Synthesis and Antimicrobial Properties of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles

With increase in incidence of multidrug resistant pathogens, there is a demand to adapt newer approaches in order to combat these diseases as traditional therapy is insufficient for their treatment. Use of nanotechnology provides a promising alternative as antimicrobial agents as against traditional antibiotics. Metal oxides have been exploited for a long times for their antimicrobial properties. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) are preferred over other metal oxide nanoparticles because of their bio-compatible nature and excellent antibacterial potentials. The basic mechanism of bactericidal nature of ZnO nanoparticles includes physical contact between ZnO nanoparticles and the bacterial cell wall, generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) as well as free radicals and release of Zn²⁺ ions. This review focuses on different synthesis methods of ZnO nanoparticles, various analytical techniques frequently used for testing antibacterial properties, mechanism explaining antibacterial nature of ZnO nanoparticles as well as different factors affecting the antibacterial properties.