Investigation of antibacterial properties of doped ZnO thin films prepared by silar technique

Metal oxides show semiconductor properties with their structures consisting of two or more elements. It is especially preferred due to its electrical conductivity, optical properties, chemical stability, biological non-toxicity and low cost. ZnO is one of the most preferred metal oxides in technological applications today. In this thesis study, undoped ZnO thin films and ZnO thin films with different additives were grown on ITO substrate by using the SILAR method. Thin films have been grown by the SILAR method in 40 cycles and then samples have been annealed at 300 ℃. Structural, surface morphological, antibacterial and bacterial adhesion and survival properties of undoped, Ni-doped and Al-doped ZnO/ITO thin films were investigated. SEM/EDS method was used for surface morphology, agar diffusion test was used for bacterial analysis, and also organism count method was used for bacterial adhesion and survival. Surface morphologies of undoped, Ni-doped and Al-doped thin films showed differences in SEM analysis. Moreover, it has been determined that spherical, clustered and layer-shaped structures are formed. The antibacterial activities of the agar diffusion test were examined and it was seen that it did not show antibacterial activity to the produced samples. In bacterial adhesion and survival organism count, the highest adhesion rate was observed in the Ni-doped thin film.