We report in this paper antibacterial activity of Ag-doped TiO2 and Ag-doped ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) under visible light irradiation synthesized by using a sol-gel method. Structural, morphological, and basic optical properties of these samples were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectrum, and UV-Vis reflectance. Room temperature X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that Ag-doped TiO2 has both rutile and anatase phases, but TiO2 NPs only have the anatase phase. In both ZnO and Ag-doped ZnO NPs, the hexagonal wurtzite structure was observed. The morphologies of TiO2 and ZnO were influenced by doping with Ag, as shown from the SEM images. EDX confirms that the samples are composed of Zn, Ti, Ag, and O elements. UV-Vis reflectance results show decreased band gap energy of Ag-doped TiO2 and Ag-doped ZnO NPs in comparison to that of TiO2 and ZnO. Pathogenic bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli, were used to assess the antibacterial activity of the synthesized materials. The reduction in the viability of all the three bacteria to zero using Ag-doped ZnO occurred at 60 μg/mL of culture, while Ag-doped TiO2 showed zero viability at 80 μg/mL. Doping of Ag on ZnO and TiO2 plays a vital role in the increased antibacterial activity performance.

We report the photocatalytic activities of ZnO, Ag-doped ZnO, and Mn-doped ZnO nanoparticles (NPs). Ag-doped and Mn-doped ZnO samples were synthesized using a coprecipitation method and calcined at 600°C. XRD, SEM, EDX, and UV-vis spectroscopy techniques were employed for characterization of the synthesized samples. The photocatalytic activities of the samples were evaluated by measuring the photocatalytic decolorization of methyl violet with sunlight being the source of energy. XRD patterns of the samples confirmed the wurtzite structure without change which was indicative of the absence of Mn- and Ag-related secondary phases for the doped ZnO. The UV-vis spectra indicated the band gap energy of ZnO, Ag-doped ZnO, and Mn-doped ZnO to be 2.98, 2.80, and 2.64 eV, respectively. Photocatalytic decolorization of methyl violet for the synthesized samples was found to be favorable at a pH of 9.0, catalyst dose of 1 g/L, and initial dye concentration of 4.5 × 10−4 g/L. Mn-doped ZnO and Ag-doped ZnO photocatalytic decolorization efficiency was significantly higher than undoped ZnO. Incorporation of Mn and Ag enhanced the visible-light photocatalytic activity of ZnO; this could be due to the ability of these metals to increase the surface defects of ZnO which in turn shift their optical absorption towards the visible region.

In this study, a N-doped Cu2O/ZnO nanocomposite was prepared by a co-precipitation and thermal decomposition technique from CuCl2, 2H2O, ZnSO4, 7H2O and CO(NH2)2 as precursors. The as-synthesized nanocomposites were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared analysis (FT–IR) and an ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) reflectance spectrometer. From the XRD diffractogram of N-doped Cu2O/ZnO nanocomposite, cubic and hexagonal wurtzite crystal structures of Cu2O, and ZnO, respectively were identified. The UV-vis reflectance spectra illustrated that the absorption edge of N-doped Cu2O/ZnO nanocomposite is more extended to the longer wavelength than ZnO, Cu2O and Cu2O/ZnO nanomaterials. FT–IR bands confirmed the presence of ZnO, Cu2O, and nitrogen in the N-doped Cu2O/ZnO nanocomposite. Photocatalytic activity of the as-synthesized nanocomposite was tested for methyl red degradation using sunlight as an energy source by optimizing the concentration of the dye and amount of the catalyst loaded. The degradation efficiency was greater in N-doped Cu2O/ZnO nanocomposite as compared to ZnO, Cu2O and Cu2O/ZnO nanomaterials. This is due to the coupling of the semiconductors which increases the absorption and exploitation capability of solar light and increases the charge separation as well. Besides that, nitrogen doping can extend absorption of light to the visible region by decreasing the energy gap. Therefore, N-doped Cu2O/ZnO nanocomposite is a solar light-active photocatalyst which can be used in the degradation of organic pollutants.