Production of ZnO nanoparticles by green synthesis method using essential oil of Thymus eigii and investigation of its antibacterial activity

In this thesis study, the essential oil of the Thymus eigii plant collected from Osmaniye province was extracted with the Clevenger apparatus and ZnO nanoparticles were produced by the green synthesis method using the extracted essential oil. This nanoparticle was characterized with the help of XRD and SEM analyses. Antibacterial activity of characterized ZnO nanoparticles has been investigated on Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 49452, Yersinia enterocolitica ATCC 27729, Escherichia coli ATCC BAA-2523, Staphylococcus aureus NCTC 10788, Pseudomonas aeruginosa NCTC 12924, Acinetobacter baumannii ATCC BA1609 microorganisms. It was determined that the maximum amount of thymol in the essential oil content of T. eigii was 54.73%, followed by 14.06% carvacrol, 7.04% p-cymene, 4.73% γ-terpinene and 4.29% caryophyllene, respectively. It was determined that ZnO nanoparticles obtained using T. eigii essential oil had antibacterial activity on the tested strains.