Abstract
By using water as a solvent, copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) have been synthesized from copper sulfate via chemical reduction method in the presence of trisodium citrate dispersant and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as capping agent. The effects of the experimental parameters such as the concentration of reducing agent (NaBH4), reaction temperature, molar ratio of citrate/Cu2+ and weight percentage ratios of Cu2+/PVP on the CuNP sizes were studied. The size of CuNPs in a range of 31 nm was obtained at NaBH4 concentration of 0.2 M, 50oC, citrate/Cu2+ molar ratio of 1.0 and Cu2+/PVP weight percentage of 5%. The colloidal CuNPs were characterized by using UV–Visible spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The colloidal solution of CuNPs (3±1 nm) was investigated the potential against Phytophthora spp. which cause economically crop diseases. Under in vitro test conditions, the inhibition of Phytophthora spp. mycelia growth at three concentrations of CuNPs (10, 20, 30 ppm) after 48 hours are 90.18%, 91.87% and 100%, respectively. These results provided a simple and economical method to develop the CuNPs-based-fungicide.
Highlights
In recent years, nanoparticles have been extensively studied due to their unusual chemical and physical properties [1, 2]
The formation of CuNPs is confirmed by the powder X-ray diffraction (XRD)
The purity and stability of the CuNPs were revealed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV–Vis spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques
Summary
Nanoparticles have been extensively studied due to their unusual chemical and physical properties [1, 2]. A number of different approaches to prepare metal nanoparticles such as Cu, Ag, Pt, Au have been reported. Some of these methods include photoreduction, chemical reduction using reducing agents in association with protecting agents [4,5,6]. CuNPs showed a significant antifungal activity against various plant pathogenic fungi such as Phytophthora, Corticium salmonicolor [7]. Phytophthora is a genus of plant-damaging Oomycete whose member species are capable of causing enormous economic losses on crops. Phytophthora spp. cause diseases such as blight, stem rots, fruit rots. Phytophthora spp. are known to be able to develop the resistance to chemicals rapidly [10].
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
