Characterization, antibacterial and photocatalytic evaluation of green synthesized copper oxide nanoparticles

Nanoparticles are extensively studied for their greater physical and biological properties. In the present study, copper oxide nanoparticles were produced by green synthesis route using Cardiospermum halicacabum extract as reducing and capping agent. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized using UV-visible spectroscopy, FTIR, XRD, Particle size analyzer, FE-SEM with EDS and HR-TEM. Well diffusion assay and bacterial cell viability assay was performed against clinical pathogens to determine the antibacterial activity of green synthesized copper oxide nanoparticles (GCuO NPs) and photocatalytic activity was determined against the organic dye (methylene blue). Morphological analysis of GCuO NPs revealed that the synthesized nanoparticles were spherical with narrow size distribution, and exhibit monoclinic structure as confirmed by XRD. GCuO NPs displayed strong antibacterial activity against Gram-positive organisms such as Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Furthermore, GCuO NPs degraded similar to 93% of methylene blue dye. These results clearly demonstrated that GCuO NPs have potent antibacterial and photocatalytic activities suggesting their potential applications as antibacterial agent and photocatalysts.

Automated summary

In this study, copper oxide nanoparticles were successfully produced using Cardiospermum halicacabum extract as a reducing and capping agent through a green synthesis route, showing strong antibacterial and photocatalytic activities.