Evaluation of photocatalytic efficiency and antimicrobial potency of ZnS nanoparticles synthesized by hydrothermal method

• Synthesis of ZnS nanoparticles by hydrothermal method. • Formation of cubic ZnS structure without any impurity phases. • FESEM and XPS studies confirm the evolution of ZnS crystal. • ZnS shows good photodegradation efficiency in degrading methylene blue and alizarin red dyes. • ZnS photocatalyst is found to be stable and reusable with brilliant antimicrobial potency. In this study, we report the photocatalytic efficiency and antimicrobial potency of zinc sulfide (ZnS) nanoparticles synthesized through hydrothermal method. The ZnS nanoparticles were prepared under controlled conditions to achieve uniform size distribution and high purity. Characterization techniques, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were employed to analyze the structural, morphological, and optical properties of the synthesized nanoparticles. UV–Visible absorption measurement was conducted to estimate the band gap of the nanoparticles. The photocatalytic performance of ZnS nanoparticles was evaluated by degrading methylene blue (MB) and alizarin red (AR) dyes under UV light irradiation. The ZnS nanoparticles exhibited significant photocatalytic activity, achieving up to 82.12 % and 85.51 % of degradation of MB and AR respectively within 180 min. The kinetic study revealed that the degradation process follows a pseudo-first-order reaction. The enhanced photocatalytic performance is attributed to the high surface area and optimal band gap of the ZnS nanoparticles, facilitating efficient generation and separation of electron-hole pairs. The antimicrobial potency of ZnS is also highly appreciable as it showed significance in the inhibition of bacterial growth. This research work highlights the viability of ZnS nanoparticles synthesized by the hydrothermal method as an effective photocatalyst for environmental remediation. The present work also focuses on the exploration of the antimicrobial efficiency of ZnS systematically.