Production and investigation of antibacterial properties of doped Sn-Cu ZnO thin films

Today, ZnO (zinc oxide) based semiconductor samples, which have great potential, are the most frequently preferred materials to develop devices based on nanotechnology. It is also used in studies due to its excellent chemical stability, biological non-toxicity, and low cost. In this study, undoped thin films and Sn-Cu doped ZnO thin films at different concentrations were grown on FTO substrates by using the SILAR method. Undoped ZnO thin films and Sn-Cu doped thin films were accumulated on the FTO substrate in different concentrations 40 times, and then they were annealed at 300 °C. Properties, which are structural, surface morphological, antibacterial properties, bacterial adhesion, and survival organism count, of undoped thin films and Sn-Cu doped thin films were investigated by using SEM-EDS, the agar diffusion test, and the organism counting method. From the SEM-EDS analysis, it was observed that both undoped and doped films with different Sn-Cu concentrations enlarged harmoniously on the FTO substrate. Their morphological properties changed depending on the doping concentration. It was observed that the produced samples did not show antibacterial activity. The highest adhesion rate of bacterial organisms on the produced samples was observed when the ZnO/Sn-Cu doping rate was 3 %. In addition, the lowest adhesion rate was observed when the ZnO/Sn-Cu additive ratio was 1 %.