Facile combustion derived synthesis of copper oxide nanoparticles: Application towards photocatalytic, electrochemical and DNA cleavage studies

Abstract

Due of the enormous number of textile businesses, environmental contamination from dyes has been steadily expanding, posing a threat to living systems. One of the most effective methods for removing organic dyes from wastewater is photocatalytic degradation (PCD). In this regard, the major difficulty is to create photocatalytic nanoparticles that can destroy organic dyes in a simple and cost-effective manner. Methylene blue, a carcinogenic dye, is used in this study because it introduces highly poisonous organisms into the ecosystem and causes serious health issues, such as cancer, skin and kidney disorders, and so on. Copper oxide nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized using a simple, low-cost and quick combustion technique at 500 °C for 15 min using low-cost, readily accessible sucrose as a fuel. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), UV–Vis spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy have all been used to analyse the obtained CuO NPs. The XRD pattern shows the CuO NPs exhibit a monoclinic crystal structure. The presence of a Cu–O​ stretching bond can be noticed in the FT-IR spectrum at around 422 cm−1. Electrochemical measurement of dopamine (DA) revealed a good sensing activity with a detection limit of 9 μM in acidic media. UV–Visible, fluorescence spectroscopy was used to investigate the binding of the nanoparticles with DNA. A strong intercalating interaction of CT-DNA with the CuO NPs was investigated. After binding to DNA, the CuO NPs induce several changes in the DNA conformation. It demonstrates that the CuO NPs cleave the harmful organism’s genome, preventing it from proliferating. The presented green approach provides a novel and new door for environmental, industrial and biomedical applications.