Structural,morphological, optical and antibacterial activity of rod-shaped zinc oxide and manganese-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles

Pure ZnO and Mn-doped ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized by Co-precipitate method. The structural characterizations of the nanoparticles were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. UV–Vis, FTIR and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy were used for analysing the optical properties of the nanoparticles. XRD results revealed the formation of ZnO and Mn-doped ZnO nanoparticles with wurtzite crystal structure having average crystalline size of 39 and 20 nm. From UV–Vis studies, the optical band-gap energy of 3.20 and 3.25 eV was obtained for ZnO and Mn-doped ZnO nanoparticles, respectively. FTIR spectra confirm the presence of ZnO and Mn-doped ZnO nanoparticles. Photoluminescence analysis of all samples showed four main emission bands: a strong UV emission band, a weak blue band, a weak blue–green band and a weak green band indicating their high structural and optical qualities. The antibacterial efficiency of ZnO and Mn-doped ZnO nanoparticles were studied using disc diffusion method. The Mn-doped ZnO nanoparticles show better antibacterial activity when higher doping level is 10 at% and has longer duration of time.