Study of physical properties and biological activity of copper nanoparticles

Abstract

Metals in the form of nanoparticles are one of the long-term challenges for the creation of a new class of antibacterial agents. The biological activity of nanoparticles of metals depends directly on their physical and chemical properties. The objective of this work is to study the physicochemical parameters and antibacterial effects of copper nanoparticles for the standardization of the given nanomaterial during further use as an antibacterial agent. The physical and chemical parameters and antibacterial effects of copper nanoparticles are investigated. Optical methods, including atomic force microscopy, spectrophotometry, and fluorometry, are used to determine the sizes of associates of nanoparticles. The size of copper nanoparticles was 75 nm, and the sizes of nanoparticle associates are 481.1–1037 nm. An oxide film without any admixture of organic molecules is detected on the surface of nanoparticles. The antibacterial effects of copper nanoparticles are studied on the basis of clinical polyantibiotic-resistant strains of epidermal staphylococcus and gramnegative nonfermentative microorganisms (causative agents of purulent flammatory diseases among patients of traumatology and orthopedic in-patient hospital departments). As a result of the investigations, a clear antibacterial effect of copper nanoparticles with specified physical characteristics on gram-positive and gram-negative microorganisms of causative agents of wound infection is detected, which gives prospects for the further use of these particles as antibacterial agents.