Effect of Capping Agent on Structure, Composition, and Optical Properties of Low-Cost Chemically Deposited Zinc Oxide Thin Films and Their Antibacterial Activities

In the present report, pure zinc oxide and albumen-capped zinc oxide thin films were deposited on a glass substrate by a simple chemical method. The growth rate of the deposited film increases by means of number of dipping linearly. The films deposited were subjected to XRD, SEM, EDX, and UV-visible spectroscopy to analyze the crystal structure, morphology, composition, and optical properties. Structural feature reported that the deposited films were found to be a wurtzite structure. The degree of crystallinity depends on film thickness with deposition time per cycles. The parameters related to film structure, such as stress, strain, dislocation density, lattice constant, and bond length, were determined. The values of the fundamental absorption edge were at 3.28 and 3.06 eV for the deposited films of pure zinc oxide and albumen-capped zinc oxide, respectively. Photoluminescence measurements indicated that the peaks of emission were found to be 375 and 340 nm for zinc oxide and albumen-capped zinc oxide. The effects of an antibacterial activity against different positive and negative bacteria sources were determined.