Synthesis and Characterization of α-GaOOH Microparticles as a Platform for Investigation of Antibacterial Mechanisms

β-Ga2O3 is of great interest for researchers due to a multitude of potential applications in photovoltaics, high frequency electronics, biological therapeutics, etc. Ga2O3 microcrystals can be synthesized through a simple bottom-up hydrothermal method. As a first step, a GaOOH precursor is produced, which undergoes subsequent calcination to yield the desired product. While the antibacterial properties of Ga2O3 have been brought to light recently, none were addressed for α-GaOOH. In our studies, we synthesized GaOOH microparticles using the hydrothermal growth method, with the pH conditions varied to produce crystals of different morphologies. A number of characterization techniques was used to investigate the quality, the crystallinity, and the defect-related properties of the material. Antibacterial assays were then performed with Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli bacteria to determine the material's cytotoxicity. In particular, we found that higher pH growth conditions yield elongated crystals providing greater effectiveness against gram-negative bacteria.