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 nanoparticles (NPs). CuO NPs were produced at optimized reaction conditions via hydrothermal synthesis. XRD study reveals a decrease in crystallite size with increased in Ag doping (2–6 wt %) in CuO. Ag-doped CuO NPs shows lower band gap values than 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 confirm the purity of synthesized CuO NPs. Further, the antimicrobial properties of CuO nanostructures were studied against Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis bacteria. CuO NPs functionalized with Ag dopant exhibit significant antibacterial potentials. The antibacterial activity of CuO NPs increased with increasing dopant concentration and in a dose-dependent manner. The gram positive (+ve) E. faecalis is more sensitive to the Ag-doped CuO NPs treatment than a gram negative (–ve) E. coli . Overall this study demonstrates a facile route of synthesizing Ag-doped CuO NPs that can materialize into effective broad-spectrum bactericidal agents.