Enhancing the magnetic and antibacterial properties of ZnO nanopowders through Mn+Co doping

Undoped and doubly (Mn+Co) doped ZnO nanopowders were synthesized with different doping levels of Co (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 at%) and constant Mn doping level (10 at%) using a simple soft chemical route. XRD profiles confirmed that the synthesized material is nanocrystalline ZnO with hexagonal wurtzite structure. No peaks other than the characteristic ZnO peaks were observed in the XRD pattern confirming the absence of any secondary phase. Antibacterial activities of synthesized ZnO nanopowders were tested against Staphylococcus aureus bacteria using agar well diffusion method. It was found that the antibacterial efficiency of the doubly doped ZnO nanopowders was remarkably high when the Co doping level was 5 at%. The obtained PL, SEM and TEM results are corroborated well with the antibacterial activity. Magnetic measurements showed that undoped ZnO sample exhibits diamagnetic behavior and as the Co doping level increases, the nanopowder behaves as a ferromagnetic material.