Synthesis, characterization and significant antimicrobial properties of CZTS nanoparticles against pathogenic strains

Antibacterial properties have wide application in water disinfection, textile industry, medicine, and food packaging. The present work focuses on the efficacy of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) nanoparticles as a possible promising antibacterial agent along those directions. CZTS nanomaterials were synthesized following the solvo-thermal method using Teflon-lined stainless-steel autoclave. Nanoparticles were characterized using XRD, Raman spectroscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy, and SEM techniques. SEM shows that the size of synthesized nanoparticle was 50-100 nm. Antibacterial activity of CZTS nanoparticles was performed against ten pathogenic bacterial strains, which include 5 Gram-positive strains (viz. Staphylococcus epidermidis, Bacillus megaterium, Mycobacterium smegmatis, Lactobacillus and Staphylococcus aureus) and 5 Gram-negative strains (viz. Serratia marcescense, Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris and Pseudomonas aeruginosa), using the well diffusion method. CZTS nanoparticles shows significant antibacterial activity against both the Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains. Notable increase in the antibacterial activity of CZTS nanoparticles has been observed with the increase in the concentration of nanoparticles in terms of zone of inhibition (ZOI), which helps us to study the cell toxicity. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) has been observed with the lowest concentration of nanoparticles that show visible growth of bacteria, which certainly may contribute significantly toward possible medicinal applications of CZTS nanoparticles.