O. Cadar, C. Roman, L. Gagea, S. Cadar, M. Miclean, M/ZnO nanopowders: Synthesis and characterization, Romanian Journal of Materials, 40/3 (2010) 250-257.
Title: M/ZnO nanopowders: Synthesis and characterization
Abstract: In this paper, we report a simple and economic procedure capable of producing large amount of metal/ZnO fM/ZnO, M = Au (1), Fe (2) and Pt (3)] nanopowders, namely coprecipitation. The obtained zinc oxide anopowders contain the doping component in an amount of 0.1 wt.% and were characterized using specific techniques: X-ray diffraction analysis, scanning electron microscopy, specific surface and X-ray fluorescence. XRD characterization of obtained nanopowders confirmed the exclusive formation of the host ZnO with the wurtzite hexagonal structure and no signature of dopant as separate phase. Obvious differences were not observed in the XRD patterns of samples. Subsequently, it was possible to confirm that new phase(s) were not formed by including Au3+/Fe3+/Pt2+ in ZnO lattice. SEM analyses show highly crystalline nanopowders and particle size less than 100 nm. Also, the antibacterial properties of the specimens against Escherichia coli and Streptococcus faecalis were examined. The obtained results will be discussed in order to justify the suitability for commercial use.
Key words: metal doping; zinc oxide; coprecipitation; characterization; antibacterial properties