Interestingly, acetate having resonance structure is the crucial one for achieving stable Zn(II)metallogel of Zn(II) acetate dihydrate and pyromellitic acid in the polar aprotic solvent media. The agar well diffusion method was performed to check the antimicrobial activity of the test metallogel, i.e., Zn-PMA, as described by . A microbial inoculum was evenly spread over the sterile nutrient agar plates, similar to the disk diffusion method. Using a sterile cork borer, wells with uniform size were created. Five bacterial strains were used; three were Gram-positive: Bacillus cereus (ATCC 13061), Listeria monocytogenes (MTCC 657), and Staphylococcus aureus (MTCC 96). Two Gram-negative strains were used: Salmonella typhimurium (MTCC 98) and Escherichia coli (MTCC 1667). These strains were grown overnight in nutrient broth until they reached the logarithmic growth phase and were adjusted to an optical density (OD) of 0.5 at 600 nm. Three concentrations of test metallogel (30 mg/ml, 20 mg/ml, and 10 mg/ml) dissolved in DMSO were added to the respective wells (25 μl each) using a micropipette. The plates were sealed with parafilm and incubated at 37°C for 12-16 hours to allow bacterial growth and the formation of inhibition zones . After the incubation period, the inhibition zone diameter around the wells was measured.