Abstract
Zinc oxide films with three types of topographies: needle-like and hexagonal rods and flakes, were prepared by hydrothermal synthesis on stainless steel substrates to investigate their photocatalytic and antibacterial properties. The photocatalytic activity was measured with a methylene blue (MB) discoloration test, whereas a method using bioluminescent whole cell bacterial biosensors enabling the constant monitoring of the amount of living cells on the surfaces was used here to study the antibacterial properties. The results showed that photocatalytic activity was clearly influenced by the surface area, which is in turn dependent on the topography. Moreover, it was found that all the examined films decreased notably the amount of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli on the surfaces. Despite significant differences in the surface areas of the studied samples that led to different zinc dissolution rate in aqueous environment, no notable differences in antibacterial activity between the films with different morphologies could be detected. These results are presented and discussed in this paper.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 842-849 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Thin Solid Films |
| Volume | 616 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Oct 2016 |
| MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
Funding
We are grateful to researcher Hanna Hakola for her educational assistance in the zinc oxide film preparation. The Academy of Finland (Advanced green processing of functional ceramic materials by supercritical carbon dioxide, grant no. 259487 ) is greatly acknowledged for financial support. Research carried out by Matti Kannisto was supported by funding from Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation (personal grant for Matti Kannisto). Matti Karp acknowledges the sabbatical year funding from Finnish Cultural Foundation (Suomen Kulttuurirahasto).
Keywords
- Antibacterial
- Biosensor cell
- Hydrothermal synthesis
- Photocatalytic activity
- Zinc oxide