Preparation and characterization of enamel glaze containing metal oxide nanocrystals for antibacterial application

The development of antibacterial materials has attracted great attention due to their wide applications in fields such as medicine and public health. The non-crystalline enamel glaze containing metal oxide nanocrystals was prepared by wet spray and high sintering. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy results showed the successful addition and uniform distribution of ZnO and MnO2/CuO nanocrystals in the glaze. Remarkably, antibacterial experiments indicated that the prepared enamel glaze possesses excellent antibacterial properties (antibacterial rate >99%) and the antibacterial activity is associated with the addition of ZnO and MnO2/CuO nanocrystals. The antibacterial mechanism of enamel glaze containing metal oxide nanocrystals was demonstrated through XPS and ESR analysis, which indicate that the antibacterial derived from the generation of reactive oxygen species, which is directly correlated with the oxygen vacancy defects of metal oxide nanocrystals.