Synthesis and antibacterial activity of mesoporous zinc oxide particle with high specific surface area

Mesoporous ZnO particle with high specific surface area was synthesized by a reverse microemulsion-based evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) technique, using zinc nitrate as metal precursor and sucrose as porogen, respectively. Structural and morphological characterization indicated that the resulting ZnO possesses a wurtzite structure and spherical morphology with an average particle size of about 150 nm. And, the effect of the molar ratio of sucrose to Zn2+ on the mesoporosity and antibacterial activity of the resulting ZnO was also investigated. The results of low temperature N-2 adsorption-desorption analysis confirmed the formation of the mesoporous ZnO. When the molar ratio of sucrose to Zn2+ was 1.5, the resulting ZnO possessed the highest specific surface area of 233.56 m(2) g(-1) and the largest pore volume 0.89 cm(3) g(-1), respectively. The inhibition zone tests revealed that the mesoporous ZnO particle exhibits a strong antibacterial activity against both a Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli and a Gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.