Developing low-cost nanohybrids of ZnO nanorods and multi-shaped silver nanoparticles for broadband photodetectors.

Photodetectors are essential elements for various applications like fiber optic communication systems, biomedical imaging, and so on. Thus, improving the performance and reducing the material costs of photodetectors would act as a motivation toward the future advancement of those applications. This study introduces the development of a nanohybrid of zinc oxide nanorods (ZnONRs) and multi-shaped silver nanoparticles MAgNPs through a simple solution process; in which ZnONRs are hybridized with MAgNPs to enable visible absorption through the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect. The photodetector based on ZnONRs/MAgNPs is responsive to visible light with representative wavelengths of 395, 464, 532 and 640 nm, and it exhibits high responsivity (R), photoconductive gain (G) and detectivity (D). The maximum R is calculated from the fitting curve of the responsivity-power relation with the value of 5.35 × 103 (mA W-1) at 395 nm excitation. The highest G and D reach 8.984 and 3.71 × 1010 Jones at that wavelength. This reveals the promise of our innovative broadband photodetector for practical usage.

Green synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles using orange fruit peel extract for antibacterial activities.

This paper presents an efficient, environmentally friendly, and simple approach for the green synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) using orange fruit peel extract. This approach aims to both minimize the use of toxic chemicals in nanoparticle fabrication and enhance the antibacterial activity and biomedical applications of ZnO nanoparticles. In this work, an aqueous extract of orange peel was used as the biological reduction agent for the synthesis of ZnO NPs from zinc acetate dihydrate. It was found that the size and morphology of the ZnO NPs significantly depended on physicochemical parameters such as the annealing temperature and pH during NP synthesis. The ZnO NPs exhibited strong antibacterial activity toward Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) without UV illumination at an NP concentration of 0.025 mg mL-1 after 8 h of incubation. In particular, the bactericidal activity towards S. aureus varied extensively with the synthesis parameters. This study presents an efficient green synthesis route for ZnO NPs with a wide range of potential applications, especially in the biomedical field.