Antibacterial activity of ZnO nanoparticles fabricated using laser ablation in solution technique

The zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles have been produced by using laser ablation in solution technique, resulting nanoparticles with hexagonal wurtzite structure and the size range of 20 - 50 nm. The optical characterization has predicted the nanoparticles band gap at least 3.16 eV. The ZnO nanoparticles were employed as an antibacterial agent for the growth of Escherichia coli (E. coli), and it shows a great potential. Total plate count (TPC) analysis was conducted by applying the ZnO nanoparticles with different concentration of 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25% and 30% (portion of bacteria medium). The 5% concentration could reduce more than half of the E. coli population after 24 hours incubation time. There was no living bacteria detected for 20%, 25% and 30% ZnO concentration.