However, they had distinct emission spectra owing to their structures and differences in chemical bond character, with a broad band of ZnO (547 nm) with three components and the single emission peak of ZnS (431 nm). Our molecular docking results suggested that these ZnO and ZnS coatings have broad-spectrum antimicrobial properties. Therefore, these theoretical findings show that changes in the local chemical environment in these excited systems have a profound impact on their physical and chemical properties and thus can provide a better understanding to engineer new functional materials for light-activated antimicrobial coatings for mitigation of SARS-CoV-2 infection.