Multifunctional CuO Nanoparticles with enhanced photocatalytic dye degradation and antibacterial activity
Abstract Rhizome extract of Bergenia ciliata was used as a bio-functional reducing material for green synthesis of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs). CuO NPs were characterized using ultra violet–visible spectroscopy (UV–vis), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), dynamic light scattering (DLS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). XRD analysis revealed the monoclinic phase of synthesized CuO NPs with average particle size of 20 nm. Spherical shaped nanoscale CuO particles were observed by EDX and SEM confirming the Cu and O presence in the synthesized nanoparticles. CuO nanoparticles showed antibacterial effects against all bacteria used in the study. The antioxidant effect was measured and IC50 values for ABTS, DPPH and FRAP assays were found to be 91.2, 72.4 and 109.0 µg/ mL− 1 respectively. Under sunlight, the CuO NPs reported extraordinary photocatalytic activity against methylene blue and methyl red degradation with efficiencies of 92 and 85 percent, respectively. CuO NPs have excellent potential application for the photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutant and in the development of antibacterial materials and for the first-time effect of these nanoparticles were reported.