Enhanced Antifungal Activity of Pure and Iron-Doped ZnO Nanoparticles Prepared in the Absence of Reducing Agents

Abstract

Pure and iron (Fe)-doped ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized using polyethylene glycol in the absence of reducing agents such as NaOH and ammonia. From XRD patterns, particle sizes pure (33.38 ± 2 nm) and Fe-doped ZnO (27.99 ± 2 nm) were calculated, which were found to be in nanoscale range. XRD patterns of the synthesized samples were refined by the Rietveld method using hexagonal unit cell, and the refinement results for the single-phase samples revealed that the unit cell volume slightly increases by iron doping of ZnO. Antifungal activity of pure and Fe-doped ZnO nanoparticles was observed against three postharvest pathogenic fungi such as Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus and Rhizopus. Iron doping enhances the inhibition zone for all fungal pathogens compared to the pure ZnO nanoparticles. Antifungal activity of the Fe-doped ZnO nanoparticles is comparable with the standard antibiotic mycostatin whose inhibition zone is 18 mm against A. Niger.