The antibacterial activity of three zeolitic-imidazolate frameworks and zinc oxide nanoparticles derived from them

Abstract

Zinc has been widely studied for its antibacterial properties due to its low toxicity, availability, and low cost. This research focused on analysing the antibacterial effects of three types of MOFs (metal–organic frameworks) with zinc as the central metal: ZIF-4, ZIF-7, and ZIF-8. The study found that ZIF-8 had the strongest antibacterial effect, while ZIF-7 had the weakest among them. These findings were consistent with the results of the ICP (inductively coupled plasma) analysis, which measured the amount of zinc released. Additionally, the antibacterial effect of ZIF-8 was found to be higher than that of zinc oxide species obtained from calcination of the compounds. Among the zinc oxide samples, ZnO nanoparticles which derived from ZIF-4 showed the highest antibacterial activity.