(259d) Synthesis of Ag- Fe/ZnO Composites By Sol Gel Method: Evaluation of Photocatalytic and Antibacterial Activities

In this study, limitation of ZnO nanoparticles absorbance (only UV region) and antibacterial activity was solved by doping iron ion (Fe³⁺) and incorporated Ag nanoparticles (NPs) with low concentration as 0.50 wt. %. The Ag NPs composite Fe-/ZnO NPs as new composite was synthesized by sol gel method at low temperature. The results showed that wurtzite system of ZnO NPs and Ag-Fe/ZnO NPs with 18 and 8 nm of crystal size were obtained. The morphology showed that ZnO NPs and Fe-/ZnO NPs with size as 20 and 10.5 nm respectively, which confirmed of crystal size results. The optical properties of ZnO NPs were enhanced with shifting of absorbance in visible region. The higher efficiency of Ag-Fe/ZnO and ZnO NPs for Congo Red degradation was obtained as 99 % and 36 % respectively, at sunny day condition. This result showed the ZnO NPs performance was improved by incorporated with iron ion (Fe³⁺) as doping type and Ag NPs on surface. The inhibition zone of Ag-Fe/ZnO NPs using Eschericha Coli bacteria was found to be three times compared to ZnO NPs. However, the antibacterial of ZnO NPs also improved by distributed of Ag NPs on surface of Fe/ZnO NPs as composite, which directly affected on growth of Eschericha Coli bacteria around the disk.