Antimicrobial activity study of Ag-ZnO nanoflowers synthesised from neem extract and application in cotton textiles

Zinc oxide has gained a tremendous attention from materials researchers owing to its availability, ease of synthesis, biocompatibility, low cytotoxicity and widespread applications. A few green synthesis methods are available in the literature for making hierarchically structured ZnO (ZO)/metal doped ZnO. In this work, a green synthesis of Ag-ZnO flowers (AZO) has been performed from neem extract (Azadiracta indica) by low temperature solution method. Material properties of the samples such as crystallinity/crystal phase, morphology and optical property have been investigated systematically. In addition, the effect of AZO upon the growth of gram positive/negative bacteria has been studied. As prepared AZO along with a biocompatible and chitosan having antimicrobial property has been used for deposition of a robust coating on commercial cotton fabric. The morphology, chemical bond vibrations and antimicrobial activity of the coated fabric against E. coli, S. aureus and fungi C. albicans have been studied. The coated fabric shows excellent antibacterial and antifungal activities. Thus, the material can be used as medical textile in research laboratory and/or other health sectors.