Investigation of Antibacterial Activity of Ag-CuO and Ag-ZnO Nanocomposites synthesized by Chemical Precipitation Method

In this present study, the synthesis of Ag-CuO and Ag-ZnO nanocomposites has been conducted. The individual Ag-CuO and Ag-ZnO nanocomposites were synthesized by using chemical precipitation method. The resulting particles were characterized by using UV-Visible, FTIR, XRD and SEM. The optical properties and band gap measurements were explored by UV-Visible spectroscopy. FTIR spectrum of the prepared nanocomposite revealed the presence of vibrational modes which were related to the Cu-O, Zn-O. The XRD analysis confirmed the structural purity of synthesized nanocomposites and the estimated crystallite size is 31.93 nm and 26.62 nm for Ag-CuO and Ag-ZnO nanocomposites respectively. The morphological features were explored by SEM analysis with deposition of Ag nanoparticles on the surface of metal oxide nanoparticles. The antibacterial activities of synthesized nanocomposites were tested on bacteria strains such as Escherichia coli (Gram -ve) and Staphylococcus aureus (Gram +ve) respectively through well diffusion method. The synthesized nanocomposite shows the higher efficacy against E.coli with an average diameter size of 17 mm zone of inhibition. This result suggests that Ag-CuO and Ag-ZnO nanocomposites can be used effectively against microbial growth. Therefore, the synthesized nanocomposite may be promising for the antibacterial agent in pharmaceutical applications.