Synthesis, physico-chemical characterizations and antibacterial properties of copper oxide (I) nanopowders elaborated by out-of-phase pulsed sonoelectrochemistry

Nanopowders of copper (I) oxide (Cu2O, cuprite) were synthesized by out-of-phase pulsed sonoelectrochemical method and characterized by several physico-chemical techniques (X-ray diffraction, transmission electronic miscroscopy, energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, centrifugal liquid sedimentation, zeta potentials and specific area measurements). The same analyses were done on commercial cuprite and copper nanopowders for com-parison. Once the chemical nature and morphology of the three materials have been determined, bactericidal assays were performed on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) in Trypto-Casein-Soy medium. The results show that sonoelectrochemical Cu2O nanopowders are good antibacterial ma-terial as compared to the two commercial nanopowders while using a synthesis method that is inexpensive and adaptable to the industrial scale.

Automated summary

In this study, copper (I) oxide nanoparticles were successfully synthesized using the out-of-phase pulsed sonoelectrochemical method. The nanoparticles were characterized and compared with commercial cuprite and copper nanoparticles. The results showed that the sonoelectrochemical Cu2O nanopowders exhibited excellent antibacterial properties, making them a promising and cost-effective antibacterial material for industrial applications.