HMT Surfactant Assisted Synthesis of ZnO Nanoparticles for Effect on Photocatalytic and Antibacterial Activities: An Impact Evidence of Strong Morphology

The synthesis and characterization of surfactant assisted ZnO nanoplates and evaluates their potential applications in environmental remediation, specifically in photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye and antibacterial activity. Various characterization techniques were employed to analyze the properties of the synthesized samples. XRD confirmed the hexagonal phase of the prepared samples, indicating the crystalline structure of the hexagonal. SEM and HR-TEM were used to study the morphology of the nanoplates, providing insight into their shape and size distribution. XPS analysis confirmed the presence of zinc and oxygen. FTIR analysis identified functional groups present in the samples. UV-Vis analysis might have been used to study the optical bandgap properties of the nanoparticles. The study found that surfactant assisted samples, particularly HMT assisted surfactant, exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity, with approximately 97.7% degradation of methylene blue dye achieved within 120 min. The HMT surfactant assisted ZnO sample are demonstrated antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, with a zone of inhibition of 18 mm observed at a concentration of 100 µg/mL. In summary, the study highlights the promising applications of HMT surfactant assisted ZnO sample in environmental remediation and underscores the importance of nanotechnology in developing innovative solutions to address environmental challenges.