Sustainable fabrication of hybrid silver-copper nanocomposites (Ag‐CuO NCs) using Ocimum americanum L. as an effective regime against antibacterial, anticancer, photocatalytic dye degradation and microalgae toxicity

Abstract

In this study, a sustainable fabrication of hybrid silver-copper oxide nanocomposites (Ag–CuO NCs) was accomplished utilizing Ocimum americanum L. by one pot green chemistry method. The multifarious biological and environmental applications of the green fabricated Ag–CuO NCs were evaluated through their antibacterial, anticancer, dye degradation, and microalgae growth inhibition activities. The morphological features of the surface functionalized hybrid Ag–CuO NCs were confirmed by FE-SEM and HR-TEM techniques. The surface plasmon resonance λmax peak appeared at 441.56 nm. The average hydrodynamic size distribution of synthesized nanocomposite was 69.80 nm. Zeta potential analysis of Ag–CuO NCs confirmed its remarkable stability at −21.5 mV. XRD and XPS techniques validated the crystalline structure and electron binding affinity of NCs, respectively. The Ag–CuO NCs demonstrated excellent inhibitory activity against Vibrio cholerae (19.93 ± 0.29 mm) at 100 μg/mL. Anticancer efficacy of Ag–CuO NCs was investigated against the A549 lung cancer cell line, and Ag–CuO NCs exhibited outstanding antiproliferative activity with a low IC50 of 2.8 ± 0.05 μg/mL. Furthermore, staining and comet assays substantiated that the Ag–CuO NCs hindered the progression of the A549 cells and induced apoptosis as a result of cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase. Concerning the environmental applications, the Ag–CuO NCs displayed efficient photocatalytic activity against eosin yellow degradation up to 80.94% under sunlight irradiation. Microalgae can be used as an early bio-indicator/prediction of environmental contaminants and toxic substances. The treatment of the Ag–CuO NCs on the growth of marine microalgae Tetraselmis suecica demonstrated the dose and time-dependent growth reduction and variations in the chlorophyll content. Therefore, the efficient multifunctional properties of hybrid Ag–CuO NCs could be exploited as a regime against infective diseases and cancer. Further, the findings of our investigation witness the remarkable scope and potency of Ag–CuO NCs for environmental applications.