Combustion synthesis of ZnO and Ag-doped ZnO and their bactericidal and photocatalytic activities

The combustion synthesized ZnO and 0.9 at.% Ag-doped ZnO have been characterized by powder X-ray diffraction and energy dispersive X-ray, UV–visible diffuse reflectance, photoluminescence and impedance spectroscopies. Doping sharpens the band gap absorption, displays surface plasmon resonance, suppresses the blue emission, enhances the near band gap emission and increases the charge transfer resistance and capacitance. Ag-doping by combustion method improves significantly the bactericidal activity but not the photocatalytic activity.

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► Combustion synthesized ZnO is a better bactericide than commercial ZnO nanocrystal.
► Doping ZnO with Ag by combustion enhances antibacterial activity.
► Ag-doping sharpens band gap absorption and results in surface plasmon resonance.
► Ag-doping suppresses blue emission and enhances near band gap emission.
► Ag-doping increases charge transfer resistance.