Optimizing the metal ion release and antibacterial activity of ZnO@ZIF-8 by modulating its synthesis method

Abstract

Nanomaterials have received a lot of attention due to their properties, such as large specific surface area and high reaction activity. The antibacterial activity of nanoparticles has been extensively studied with human pathogenic bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Moreover, these bacteria appear to be very sensitive to ZnO nanoparticles. In the present work, Zn(CH₃COO)₂·2H₂O was loaded in the activated microporous ZIF-8. Exposure of ZIF-8 to the Zn(CH₃COO)₂·2H₂O solution resulted in the formation of the [Zn(CH₃COO)₂·2H₂O]_0.227@ZIF-8 inclusion compound, and in the next stage, the product was calcined at 370 °C to produce [ZnO]_0.181@ZIF-8. Thermal treatment of ZIF-8 was also done at 410 °C. At this temperature, parts of the crystal structure remained unchanged and some other parts were oxidized to produce [ZnO]_0.09@ZIF-8. The obtained nanomaterials were characterized by PXRD, FT-IR, FE-SEM, TEM, TGA, BET, ICP techniques, and their antibacterial activities were evaluated against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria.