Optical, surface analysis and antibacterial activity of ZnO–CuO doped cerium oxide nanoparticles

Abstract

Ceria (CeO2) is a technologically important rare earth material because of its unique properties, various engineering and biological applications. A facile and rapid method has been developed to prepare pure and co-doped (ZnO–CuO) ceria nanoparticles using the chemical precipitation method. The synthesized product was characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) analysis, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, Brunauere Emmette Teller (BET) measurement, UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and cyclic voltammetry (CV) techniques. The XRD results indicated the formation of face centered cubic phase for pure and co-doped CeO2 nanoparticles with crystallite size of 4–6nm. UV–vis spectra of the doped powder exhibit shift of the absorption edge toward respect to those of the undoped CeO2 particles and has been attributed to compensation of cerium ions and decreasing crystallite size as the result of doping. Antibacterial tests revealed that the ZnO–CuO doped CeO2 nanoparticles exhibit a strong activity against the common pathogens Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli.