Calcination induced PEG-Ni-ZnO nanorod composite and its biomedical applications

PEGylation of nickel-zinc oxide nanorods (PEG-Ni-ZnONRs) composites was synthesized by a modified co-precipitation method and calcined at different temperatures to optimize their properties suitable for biomedical applications. The upshot of calcination on the properties of PEG-Ni-ZnONRs formulated, were analyzed using different characterization techniques via UV-Visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) coupled with SEM analysis. The XRD analysis showed the hexagonal wurtzite crystal structure of PEG-Ni-ZnONRs; while the SEM analysis revealed the formation of enhanced nanorod after calcination of PEG-Ni-ZnONRs up to 700 degrees C. The antibacterial and antifungal activities of the enhanced properties of the formulated PEG-Ni-ZnONRs, were examined using Ager Well Diffusion Method (AWDM) against four bacterial and five fungal pathogenic strains with enhanced antibacterial and antifungal activities. It is noteworthy that after calcination, the morphology, structural and bandgap properties of PEG-Ni-ZnONRs were influenced and enhanced for biomedical applications.