EVALUATION OF ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF ZnO NANOPARTICLES COATED SONOCHEMICALLY ONTO TEXTILE FABRICS

Abstract

EVALUATION OF ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF ZnO NANOPARTICLES COATED SONOCHEMICALLY ONTO TEXTILE FABRICS Gagandeep Singh, Eadaoin M. Joyce*, James Beddow and Timothy J. Mason Address*: Dr Eadaoin M. Joyce, The Sonochemistry Centre, Coventry University, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Priory Street, Coventry, CV1 5FB, UK. Email, Contact number: [phone], Fax: [phone] *Corresponding author: [e-mail] ABSTRACT Growing resistance of microorganisms to potent antibiotics has renewed a great interest towards investigating bactericidal properties of nanoparticles and their nano-composites as an alternative. In the present work studies have been carried out to investigate the antibacterial properties of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs). Various tests were performed to assess the antibacterial activity of cotton fabrics coated with ZnO nanoparticles against Gram positive Staphylococcus aureus and Gram negative Escherichia coli. The antibacterial activities of the fabrics were assessed semi-quantitatively by the agar diffusion method and the shake flask method (nutrient broth) and quantitatively by the shake flask method (saline) and the absorption method (ISO 20743:2007). The results showed a significant antibacterial activity of ZnO nanoparticles coated onto fabrics against both bacteria, with a slightly higher activity against Staphylococcus aureus as compared to Escherichia coli. Keywords: Antibacterial textiles; zinc oxide nanoparticles; antimicrobial finish