Antibacterial and photocatalytic activity of undoped and (Ag, Fe) co-doped CuO nanoparticles via microwave-assisted method

Nanoparticles (NPs) are miniature materials ranging from 1 to 100 nm. The NPs have unique chemical and physical properties due to their shape, size and high surface area. This research paper gives a detailed summary of the synthesis, characterization and applications of undoped and (Ag, Fe) co-doped CuO NPs with a diverse concentration of Fe (0.02, 0.04, 0.06 and 0.08 M) at a constant concentration of Ag (0.02 M). X-ray diffractometer (XRD) results revealed average crystallite size of NPs varies in the range 13.10-24.98 nm. Scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) showed that the morphology of pure synthesized CuO NPs and Energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX) recognized the presence of Ag, Fe elements in the CuO lattice. The particle size obtained by transmission electron microscope (HR-TEM) images was found in the range 19.73-21.47 nm. Cu-O bond stretching of NPs was also confirmed by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) techniques. The values of direct and indirect band gap for CuO were found to be 1.41-1.54 eV and 0.69-1.51 eV respectively.  Antibacterial activity for synthesized NPs tested against gram-negative and gram-positive pathogenic bacteria. The photocatalytic properties of synthesized NPs were investigated by monitoring the methyl orange/methylene blue degradation in ultraviolet visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis).