Optical, photo catalytic, electrochemical and antibacterial performance of ZnO and Co doped ZnO nanoparticles

Abstract

The present work designates the preparation of pure ZnO and Cobalt doped ZnO nanoparticle with the general formula Zn1-xCoxO (x = 0.00, 0.01, 0.03, 0.05) by wet Chemical Co-precipitation technique. The prepared nanoparticles were characterized by XRD, FTIR, SEM with EDAX, UV-DRS and Photoluminescence spectroscopy. XRD outcomes confirmed that these nanoparticles exhibited hexagonal wurtzite structure of ZnO lacking any secondary phase. The crystallite size of the formed products was calculated by Scherrer’s formula. The calculated average crystallite size decreased from 10 to 28 nm (x = 0.00 to 0.05). Through SEM analysis the shape and morphology of the sample was determined, which showed wurtzite structures with irregular dimensions. UV–Vis DRS spectral studies indicated a decrease in the band gap with an increase in doping concentration. Photoluminescence studies exhibited a green emission peak at 521 nm. Additionally, photodegradation of these nanoparticles was evaluated through degradation of MB dye. Synthesized nanoparticles illustrates appreciable electrochemical performance, pH shows nearest to Nernst value, MCPE is adsorption controlled and LOD of PA is very low compared to another modified electrode. Pure ZnO and Co-ZnO were examined against gram-positive Enterococcus faecalis and gram-negative Escherichia coli bacteria and it was found that the anti-bacterial activity improved with Cobalt doping compared to the pure ZnO nanoparticles.