ZnO nanostructure fabrication in different solvents transforms physio-chemical, biological and photodegradable properties Attarad Ali a , Sidra Ambreen a , Rabia Javed a , Saira Tabassum a , Ihsan ul Haq b , Muhammad Zia a, ⁎ a Department of Biotechnology, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan b Department of Pharmacy, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan abstract article info Article history: Received 15 August 2016 Received in revised form 29 November 2016 Accepted 31 January 2017 Available online 03 February 2017 Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures are synthesized in various organic solvents (acetone, chloroform, ethyl acetate, ethanol and methanol) and water via coprecipitation process using zinc acetate as precursor. The resultant ZnO nanoparticles, nano rods and nano sheets are characterized by UV–vis spectrophotometric analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transmission infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and en- ergy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The variable size and geometry of nanoparticles depend upon medium used for synthesis. The synthesized ZnO nanostructures exhibit minor to moderate antioxidative (DPPH based free radical scavenging activity, total antioxidative potential and total reducing power) response. Mild to moder- ate antibacterial and antifungal activities, excellent antileishmanial potential (IC50 up to 3.76), and good cytotox- ic perspective (LD50 up to 49.4) is also observed by the synthesized ZnO NPs. The nanoparticles also exhibit moderate α-amylase inhibition response. Furthermore the nanostructures are evaluated for methylene blue photodegradation response within 60 min time period. It is found that organic solvent alters shape, size and other physio-chemical properties of ZnO that ultimately modulate the biological, chemical, and environmental properties. © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Antibacterial Antioxidative Antileishmanial DPPH Nanoparticles Scanning electron microscopy Organic solvent 1. Introduction ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) has already been synthesized through dif- ferent routes that resulted in variable properties such as size, shape other physiochemical characters. Most of the applications involving photonic and electronic are because of wide band gap energy of 3.37 eV at room temperature [1]. Some of the other applications include UV photodetection, transparent electronics, humidity sensor, gas and chemical sensor, micro lasers, memory arrays, coatings, catalysts, and biomedical applications [2–6]. However the capability and capacity of ZnO NPs for these applications also depends upon size and shape [7]. A number of reports disseminate to control physiological properties of nanoparticles [8,9]. Coprecipitation method is adoptive mostly for synthesis of metallic nanoparticles because it is simple, reproducible and cheap, though the size and shape may vary depending upon modification of procedure. Al- though, coprecipitation methodology is based on three lattices; i) formation of mixed crystal, ii) occlusion, and iii) surface adsorption by the precipitate after it has been formed. The pure nanoparticles are based on third principle where crystal grows after nucleation. The idea for the synthesis of ZnO nanostructures is based on a two-step self- assembly process including nucleation and secondary crystal growth. In the template-free process, well-defined ZnO nanowires have been synthesized in ammonia solutions or ethanol solutions of NaOH at mod- erate temperatures via the two-step self-assembly process. However, most wet chemical methods have failed to produce rods with diameters b 100 nm ([10–12]. Particle size, shape, solubility, crystallinity and other characteristics depend upon medium in which crystals are fabricated. Researchers have tried to synthesize ZnO nanoparticles via coprecipitation methods using different solvent system. Some are elab- orated in Table 1. The synthesis, characterization and application of various ZnO nano- structures including the rods/wires, belts/ribbons, rings, tetrapods, combs, sheets and complex structures [12,22–27] were presently the subject of intense research. Most of the synthetic procedures involve high temperature, long reaction time and toxic template. In the present work, the coprecipitation process is employed to synthesize ZnO nano- particles. Effect of different organic solvents, i.e., methanol, ethanol, chloroform, ethyl acetate and acetone in comparison with water on size shape and other properties are investigated. Furthermore the re- sults obtained from this study also offer some insights onto the role of Materials Science and Engineering C 74 (2017) 137–145 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: ziachaudhary@gmail.com (M. Zia). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.msec.2017.01.004 0928-4931/© 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Materials Science and Engineering C journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/msec