Investigation the effect of Co3O4 doping on structural and mechanical properties of ZnO pallets synthesized by powder metallurgy method and their biological evaluation

ZnO is an important semiconductor due to its unique structural, mechanical and optical properties. In this study pure ZnO pallets and Co3O4 doped ZnO pallets with varying molar concentration of dopant i.e 2% 4% 6% 8% and 10% were prepared by using hydraulic press. X-ray diffraction (XRD), FTIR and Vickers indentation method is used for pallets characterization. The XRD analysis revealed that the pure ZnO and doped ZnO pallet samples have hexagonal wurtzite structure. Vickers Hardness test showed that pure ZnO pallet has maximum hardness as compared to the Co3O4 doped ZnO pallets. FTIR analysis used to examine the bonding properties of synthesized Co doped ZnO. Doped materials with varying concentration were applied against different gram positive and gram negative bacterial strains. A considerable increase in antibacterial activity was observed by increasing the concentration of Co3O4 dopant.