Structural, Antimicrobial and Electrochemical Properties of Cu/TiO2 Nanocomposites

Abstract

The antimicrobial properties of copper (Cu) based titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) nanocomposites have been actively investigated in the present study. Sonochemical method was employed for the synthesis of nanocomposites having different wt.% ratios of Cu, TiO 2 nanomaterials. In Cu-based TiO 2 nanocomposites, the size of Cu nanoparticle plays a crucial role in deciding the bactericidal performance activity. The XRD (X-ray diffraction), FTIR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy), SEM (Scanning electron microscope), HR-TEM (High-resolution transmission electron microscope) and cyclic voltammeter used to analyze crystallite size, functional groups, morphology, particle size and electrochemical activity respectively of well-formed nanocomposites. Detailed studies on antimicrobial activity of prepared nanomaterials are carried out on Gram positive, Gram negative and Yeast i.e., Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923); Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 6633); Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) and Candida ablicans (ATCC 10231) by disc diffusion method. The obtained antibacterial activity was correlated with electrochemical studies, originate to be best suitable for the present application. The crystallite size was calculated from XRD and is found to be 16.6 – 22.7 nm and 42.2 – 56 nm for Cu/TiO 2 at different wt.% ratio respectively. Zone of inhibition is increasing as the concentration of Cu based TiO 2 nanocomposites are increasing. The result showed that Cu based nanocomposites has a very promising property as an antimicrobial material and can be utilized in wide range of biomedical applications.