Preparation and characterization of nanostructure CuS for biological activity

Nanostructure copper sulfide derived from copper nitrate trihydrate precursors have been prepared by hydrothermal route with three different time reactions. All prepared samples were inspected by X-ray diffraction (XRD), zeta potential, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Fourier transforms infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and UV-Vis spectrophotometer. XRD patterns show that all samples have confirmed the formation of the hexagonal phase. Absorbance spectra were measured using UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The optical band gap energy of CuS nanostructure also decreased as the reaction time increased. In particular, their optical band gap energies were 3.25, 3.2 and 3.1 eV for 5, 15 and 25 h, respectively. Antibacterial activity of CuS nanostructure against S. aureus, P. aeruginosa and E. coli was evaluated by a zone of inhibition. The test revealed the minimum concentration of CuS nanostructure has very strong antibacterial activity against gram-positive than for gram-negative. Anticancer treatment was applied based on employing CuS nanostructure by exploiting their unique morphological and optical properties as therapeutic agents against Murine fibroblast (L20B) and Rhabdomyosarcoma (RD) cancer cell lines without using laser. Cytotoxicity effect was evaluated by MTT assay; results demonstrated that CuS nanostructure for 15 h exhibits more toxicity effect than for 5 h and 25 h for all particles concentration, where as cytotoxicity reaches 100% at 0.5 mg/ml, the most influential concentration, at which it could be a promising agent for cancer treatment.