Ag@AgCl/ZnO; Radiation-assisted methods; Nanocomposite; Zinc oxide; Silver chloride; Antimicrobial activity

This research has revealed the promising, environmentally friendly and one-step modification of ZnO nanoparticles(NPs) based on radiation-assisted method for antimicrobial applications. Commercially available ZnONPs were modified in aqueous solution of silver nitrate in the presence of the artificial radiation by usingdifferent sources of radiation such as high-power UV/Vis LED units and radioactive isotope 60Co. New nanocompositeswere characterized by XRD, TEM, HRTEM, HRSTEM with 3D element mapping, DRS and PL spectrometry.The results showed that all samples were composed of Ag@AgCl NPs connected with ZnO NPs viastable heterojunction. The use of different radiation had significant influence on the prepared composites and thefinal antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Gram-positiveStreptococcus salivarius, Staphylococcus aureus bacteria strains and yeast Candida albicans. The possible influenceof irradiation on the final physiochemical and antimicrobial activity of Ag@AgCl/ZnO nanocomposites wasproposed. It was found that the Ag@AgCl/ZnO irradiated by γ- and β- -radiation exhibited the highest antimicrobialactivity.