Effect of Ultraviolet-Ozone Treatment on the Properties and Antibacterial Activity of Zinc Oxide Sol-Gel Film

• Published in: Materials Vol. 12; no. 15; p. 2422
• Main Authors: Kim, Ji-Hyeon, Ma, Junfei, Lee, Seunghun, Jo, Sungjin, Kim, Chang Su
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 29.07.2019; MDPI
• Subjects: antibacterial film; Antibacterial materials; Antibiotics; Field emission microscopy; film surface investigation; Morphology; Nosocomial infections; Organic chemistry; Ozone; Photoelectrons; Scanning electron microscopy; sol-gel film; Sol-gel processes; Spectrum analysis; Spin coating; Surface stability; UV–ozone effect; X ray photoelectron spectroscopy; Zinc oxide; Zinc oxides; United States > US; antibacterial film; sol-gel film; UV–ozone effect; film surface investigation; zinc oxide
• ISSN: 1996-1944; 1996-1944
• DOI: 10.3390/ma12152422

To combat infectious diseases, zinc oxide (ZnO) has been identified as an effective antibacterial agent; however, its performance can be adversely affected by harsh application environments. The ozone impact on ZnO antibacterial film needs to be evaluated prior to its application in an ozone disinfection system. In this study, ZnO films synthesized via sol-gel/spin-coating were subjected to ultraviolet-ozone (UVO) treatment for different periods. Surface investigations using scanning electron microscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed that the treatment-induced film changes. With longer UVO treatment, the surface porosity of the film gradually increased from 5% to 30%, causing the transmittance reduction and absorbance increase in visible-light range. Phase transformation of Zn(OH) to ZnO occurred during the first 10 min of UVO treatment, followed by oxygen uptake as a consequence of the reaction with reactive oxygen species generated during UVO treatment. However, despite these surface changes, the satisfactory antibacterial activity of the synthesized ZnO film against and was sustained even after 120 min of UVO treatment. This indicates that the UVO-induced surface changes do not have a significant effect on the antibacterial performance and that the ZnO sol-gel film possesses good functional durability in ozone environments.