Abstract:
Background: In recent years, popularity has been grown into management of industrial wastes or chemical by-products, and brass ash is the one to be in consideration. With its high amount of zinc oxide (ZnO), this fly ash is able to be processed for ZnO which provides a lot of useful medical applications, especially antimicrobial activity against certain kinds of bacteria.
Objective: This study aims to examine whether antibacterial activity against Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) of waste-derived ZnO is obtained by which size of the milled particles.
Method: Once the ash was obtained, it was then purified for ZnO using chemical precipitation method. Subsequently, purified ZnO (S0) was milled in a high energy ball miller under a variety of milling durations: untreated, 0.5-hour milled (S0.5), and 1.0-hour milled (S1). Characterization of ZnO was done through x-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzer for element composition, x-ray diffraction (XRD) machine for determination of crystallographic parameters, as well as scanning electron microscope (SEM) for particle size distribution. Purified and milled ZnO was, at last, tested for its antibacterial activity against S. mutans using microbroth dilution method compared to commercial ZnO (C), and the result was interpreted using a microplate reader.
Results: ZnO at 99% purification was synthesized in the process. Its size means were 123.99 nm for untreated ZnO, and 104.41 nm and 76.22 nm respectively after being milled. Of all the sizes compared, optimal antibacterial activity, eventually, was acquired from ZnO in size of 76.22 nm (milled for an hour), which its minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) was 28.125 μg/ml.
Conclusion: The smaller the size of ZnO, the greater the antibacterial activity is. Aside from the main objective, chemical precipitation process could purify ZnO and size distribution was affected by milling time. For further study, the author suggests that synthesized ZnO should be incorporated into ZnO-containing dental products and be tested for its significant change in properties. Also, testing of brass-ash-derived ZnO on other bacteria is essential for further research.
Mae Fah Luang University. Learning Resources and Educational Media Center