Structural, optical and magnetic properties of Ni1−xZnxO/Ni nanocomposite

Chemical fabrication, structural characterization and photocatalytic water splitting application of Sr-doped SnO2nanoparticles

Semiconductor photocatalysis has gained considerable attention in recent years due to their enabling nature to convert solar energy into fuels of renewable hydrocarbon. However, many of them suffer from some drawbacks like the inability to visible light irradiation and wide band gaps. Herein, we have synthesized monophasic strontium (Sr) doped SnO₂nanoparticles by a cost-effective and environmental friendly hydrothermal method. As-synthesized nanoparticles showed rutile crystalline structure with irregular and rough cubical shape and no other elemental impurities. Sr-doped SnO₂nanoparticles show a constant decrease in bandgap with increasing dopant concentration, which is estimated for excellent photocatalytic activity. The photocatalytic water splitting of as-prepared Sr-doped SnO₂nanoparticles for H₂generation shows a large influence of the increasing dopant concentration related to the narrowing bandgap on H₂generation rate. Hence, the tunable bandgap with adjusted dopant concentration indicates that band gap tuning through doping for produced nanostructures may open up a new opportunities for photocatalytic and other optoelectronic applications.

Synthesis, characterization and bioactivity of thio-acetamide modified ZnO nanoparticles embedded in zinc acetate matrix

ZnO nanoparticles embedded in zinc acetate matrix were synthesized by chemical route. The effect of thio-acetamide concentration during its synthesis was probed by structural, morphological, optical and bioactivity studies. XRD characterization indicated the formation of dominant phase of zinc acetate along with the low intensity peak of wurtzite ZnO. Morphological transition from bulky-like feature to flower-like feature via flake-like feature, is evidenced with increasing thio-acetamide molar concentrations. The optical band gap of samples decreased from ∼3.29 to 3.24 eV whereas the emitted color shifted from near green to blue region with increasing of molar concentration of thio-acetamide from 0 to 30% in the sample. The nanoparticles exhibited antimicrobial activity against seven (7) common human pathogenic bacteria including drug resistant varieties K. pneumonaie and S. aureus. The nanoparticles formed pores in the biological model membranes made from egg-phosphatidyl choline. Our study reveals that the thio-acetamide modified ZnO nanoparticles embedded in zinc acetate matrix could be used as potential drug lead to fight drug resistance against K. pneumoniae and S. aureus.