Synthesis of biochar-based Cu2O nanoparticles and their antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli

Abstract

In this study, distilers’ grains were used to prepare biochar, then cuprous oxides nanoparticles were firstly loaded to the biochar to improve the properties of Cu2O. The characterizations of their structure and morphology show that the Cu2O nanoparticles have been loaded onto the biochar successfully and the biochar-based Cu2O nanoparticles (Cu2O/biochar composites) have larger specific surface area than pure Cu2O nanoparticles. Their antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli (E. coli) was examined. The results show that Cu2O/biochar composites have superior antibacterial performance than pure Cu2O nanoparticles which indicates that the existence of biochar can improve the antibacterial activity of Cu2O nanoparticles.