Influence of Surface Stabilizing Agents on the Structural, Optical, and Antibacterial Properties of Chemically Synthesized MoS2 Nanoparticles

MoS ₂ nanoparticles were synthesized via chemical route with the help of various surface stabilizers to ascertain their role in controlling the structural, optical and colloidal as well antibacterial activities. XRD verified the development of hexagonal 2H-MoS ₂ with crystallite sizes that went from 6.6 nm (C1) to pass through 8.7 nm (C2), and then reach to 10.7 nm (C3). FESEM resulted in C1 sizes ranging from 41 to 85 nm, C2 from 32 to 53 nm, and C3 from 95 to169nm, while AFM showed surface roughness of 6.67nm,17.58nmand54.35 respectively. Optical absorption showed that C3 has the highest absorption and conversely, C2 displays the lowest. Calculated band gaps were 3.45 eV (C1), 3.60 eV (C2) and 3.35 eV (C3). According to the zeta potential measurement, negatively charged surfaces were observed with slight enhancement of stability from C1 to C3. C1, C2 and C3 showed inhibition zones of 22 mm, 20 mm and 17 mm toward staphylococcus aureus and only C3 (15mm) was found active against escherichia coli in antibacterial tests.. The findings suggest that the surface engineering dictates the active function of MoS ₂ .