Influence of Al and Al-Cu dual doping on structural, optical, wetting and anti-fungal properties of ZnO nanoparticles

Abstract

ABSTRACT Sol-gel (SG) and direct precipitation (DP) routes were employed to synthesize zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles. Al doping and Al-Cu dual doping in ZnO nanoparticles were performed. The structural, morphological, optical, wetting properties and antifungal activity of the undoped and doped nanoparticles were studied. The Al doping transformed the ZnO to zinc aluminate nanostructure, while Al-Cu dual doping produced zincite and tenorite phases of ZnO. FESEM revealed the morphology of undoped and doped nanoparticles. The doping of ZnO increased the band gap compared to the band gap of the ZnO nanoparticles. Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy endorsed the formation of zinc aluminate, zincite and tenorite phases. The hydrophilic SG-derived ZnO nanoparticles transformed to the hydrophobic due to Al doping which is attributed to the variation in the roughness of the doped nanostructures. The doped ZnO nanostructures revealed better resistance to the growth of the ‘Rhizopus Stolonifer’ fungus compared to the undoped ZnO nanoparticles.