OPTICAL PROPERTIES AND ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF Ni, Mg, AND Fe-DOPED ZnO

In recent years, research on pure ZnO, Ni-doped ZnO, Mg-doped ZnO, and Fe-doped ZnO nanostructures has been gradually progressing to create more effective materials that may be applied in a variety of applications. In this investigation, hydrothermal synthesis was used to create both pure ZnO nanoparticles and ZnO that had been doped with Ni, Mg, and Fe at a concentration of 7%. Before testing the nanostructures’ ability to inhibit harmful bacteria (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter sp.), they were shown to have antibacterial activity. With the use of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis), their physicochemical characteristics were initially determined. When Ni, Mg, and Fe are inserted into ZnO, XRD measurements show that the particle size decreases from 28.94$$nm to 19.96$$nm. The optical bandgap decreases from 3.17$$eV to 3.08$$eV with the least value for Fe/ZnO NPs, according to UV–Vis spectral data, which also shows that the absorption edge changes to higher wavelengths (redshift). This research has produced nanoparticle samples of Ni/ZnO, Mg/ZnO, and Fe/ZnO that, when compared to the pure ZnO sample, show intriguing antibacterial activity.