Effect of silver (Ag) doping on structural, optical and antimicrobial properties of copper oxide (CuO) nanostructures

Abstract

The present report investigates the effect of Ag doping on the structural, optical, and antimicrobial properties of CuO NPs. CuO NPs were produced at optimized reaction conditions via hydrothermal synthesis. XRD study reveals a decrease in crystallite size with an increase in Ag doping concentration (2-6 wt %) in CuO. Ag-doped CuO NPs shows lower band gap values as compared to undoped CuO NPs. FESEM analysis displays pure CuO NPs with spherical pellet-like structures, while Ag-doped CuO NPs have mixed morphologies, i.e., spherical, disc-like, and irregular shapes. EDX spectra confirms the purity of synthesized CuO NPs. Further, the antimicrobial properties of CuO nanostructures were studied against E. coli and E. faecalis bacteria. CuO NPs functionalized with Ag dopant exhibits significant antibacterial potentials. The antibacterial activity of CuO NPs increased with increasing dopant concentration and in a dose-dependent manner. The gram +ve E. faecalis is more sensitive to the Ag-doped CuO NPs treatment than a gram –veE. coli. Overall, the study demonstrates a facile route of synthesizing Ag-doped CuO NPs that can materialize into effective bactericidal agents against a wide range of gram +ve and gram –ve bacteria.