Biosynthesis, characterization and antimicrobial activity of copper oxide nanoparticles (CONPs) produced using brown alga extract (Bifurcaria bifurcata)

Y Abboud,A Chagraoui,B Ihssane,T Saffaj,A El Bouari,K Brouzi,O Tanane

doi:10.1007/s13204-013-0233-x

Abstract

Recently, biosynthesis of nanoparticles has attracted scientists’ attention because of the necessity to develop new clean, cost-effective and efficient synthesis techniques. In particular, metal oxide nanoparticles are receiving increasing attention in a large variety of applications. However, up to now, the reports on the biopreparation and characterization of nanocrystalline copper oxide are relatively few compared to some other metal oxides. In this paper, we report for the first time the use of brown alga (Bifurcaria bifurcata) in the biosynthesis of copper oxide nanoparticles of dimensions 5–45 nm. The synthesized nanomaterial is characterized by UV–visible absorption spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectrum analysis. X-ray diffraction confirms the formation and the crystalline nature of copper oxide nanomaterial. Further, these nanoparticles were found to exhibit high antibacterial activity against two different strains of bacteria Enterobacter aerogenes (Gram negative) and Staphylococcus aureus (Gram positive).

Highlights

Unlike bulk materials, nanoparticles have been intensively studied over the last decade due to their characteristics: physical, chemical, electronic, electrical, mechanical, magnetic, thermal, dielectric, optical and biological properties (Schmid 1992; Daniel and Astruc 2004)
We report for the first time the use of brown alga (Bifurcaria bifurcata) in the biosynthesis of copper oxide nanoparticles of dimensions 5–45 nm
The change in color of the reaction mixture (Fig. 1) due to surface plasmon resonance phenomenon provides a convenient signature to indicate the formation of copper oxide nanoparticles (CONPs) in the reaction mixture (Krithiga et al 2013)

Summary

Introduction

Nanoparticles have been intensively studied over the last decade due to their characteristics: physical, chemical, electronic, electrical, mechanical, magnetic, thermal, dielectric, optical and biological properties (Schmid 1992; Daniel and Astruc 2004). Metal oxide nanoparticles are of interest because of their unique optical, electronic and magnetic properties. Various physical and chemical methods have been extensively used to produce nanocrystalline copper oxide such as microemulsion method (Nassar and Husein 2007), arc-submerged nanoparticle synthesis system (Kao et al 2007), flame-based aerosol methods (Chiang et al 2012), sonochemical (Vijayakumar et al 2001), hydrothermal (Zhang et al 2006) and solid-state techniques (Wang et al 2004), the stability and the use of toxic chemicals are subjects of paramount concern.

Methods

Results

Conclusion