Antibacterial and photocatalytic performances of bioactive In-doped ZnO nanoparticles

[Display omitted] •IZO ceramics has synthesized by high temperature solid state synthesis method.•1% In-doped ZnO has the highest antibacterial and photocatalytic activity.•The antibacterial and photocatalytic activity are investigated.•ZnO NPs show great promise for use in organic waste treatment.•Almost complete degradation of methylene blue is achieved at 1% IZO. In-doped ZnO (IZO) ceramics with hexagonal wurtzite structures were synthesized. Herein, the relationship between the microstructure, morphology, electrochemical state, vibration modes, and optical properties of IZO was comprehensively investigated using various characterization techniques. Also, the antibacterial and photocatalytic activities of the nanomaterials have been examined, and the correlation between these has been revealed. The analyses showed that In atoms were successfully doped into the lattice of ZnO. UV–Vis spectroscopy measurement pointed out that the bandgaps of the IZO were slightly less than the optical bandgap of undoped ZnO. Examination of the structural properties by XRD and Raman spectroscopy led to the conclusion that all samples except the 5% IZO have a pure wurtzite phase. It was deduced from photocatalytic and antibacterial activity results that 1% IZO had the highest photocatalytic and antibacterial activity. This result was confirmed by XPS indicating that 1% IZO had the highest concentration of oxygen vacancies.