Jeba R; Radhika S; Padma C M; Ascar Davix X
Abstract
Pure and copper-doped Zirconium oxide nanoparticles were synthesized using a co-precipitation process and investigated the effect of doping on photocatalytic and anti-microbial activities. The prepared samples are pure tetragonal phase, as shown by the X-ray diffraction pattern, and the crystallite size ...
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Pure and copper-doped Zirconium oxide nanoparticles were synthesized using a co-precipitation process and investigated the effect of doping on photocatalytic and anti-microbial activities. The prepared samples are pure tetragonal phase, as shown by the X-ray diffraction pattern, and the crystallite size decreases as the dopant concentration increases. Higher dopant concentrations resulted in needle-shaped morphology, as seen in the SEM image. The presence of Zr, Cu, and O in the sample is confirmed by EDS analysis. According to UV-VIS analysis, when the Cu content is increased, a more significant wavelength absorption band edge is formed, and the band gap reduces with the increase in dopant concentration. All samples have magnetic hysteresis loops with diamagnetic background effects, according to VSM tests. A prominent and influential peak at 485nm in the PL spectra suggests that ZrO2 nanoparticles emit blue light. The produced nanoparticles were utilized as a photocatalyst to degrade Methylene Blue (MB) dye, and the results indicate that a high dopant concentration (0.08wt percent) outperforms pure and other dopant concentrations. Copper-doped ZrO2 has moderate anti-bacterial and anti-fungal activities.
Jeba R; Radhika S; Padma C M; Ascar Davix X
Abstract
Multifunctional Zirconia Nanorods performing photocatalysis, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal activities are presented in this article. Tetragonal Zirconia is synthesized by simple co-precipitation method. The synthesized Zirconia is characterized by various characterization methods such as XRD, SEM, EDX, ...
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Multifunctional Zirconia Nanorods performing photocatalysis, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal activities are presented in this article. Tetragonal Zirconia is synthesized by simple co-precipitation method. The synthesized Zirconia is characterized by various characterization methods such as XRD, SEM, EDX, UV-Vis, PL, VSM and TG/DTA analysis. Exploration of powder XRD pattern indicates tetragonal phase. SEM image illustrates rod-shaped morphology. UV-Vis spectra reveal that the synthesized catalyst has wide band gap of about 4.6eV. The emission peaks in the PL spectra reveal the presence of oxygen vacancies in the sample. Room Temperature Ferromagnetism (RTFM) is confirmed from VSM measurements. The performance of Zirconia nanorods in various applications such as photocatalysis, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal activities has been analyzed. t-ZrO2 photo catalyst degrades methylene blue dye with 80% removal efficiency in 180 minutes under UV light irradiation. t-ZrO2 obtained 28mm inhibition zone against Staphaureus for anti-bacterial assessment while Amikacin has 15mm inhibition and obtained 25mm inhibition zone against Candida Albicans for anti-fungal assessment while Nystatin has 20mm inhibition. t-ZrO2 shows superior inhibiting effect against both gram positive and gram negative bacterial pathogens. Owing to its high surface area it exhibits greatest inhibiting effect against fungal strain.