Antibacterial Activity of Copper Nanoparticles Produced by Pulse Laser Ablation Against E. Coli And Staphylococcus aureus

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Ministry of Education, Baghdad, Iraq *Email: banfaisal@uomustansiriyah.edu.iq

2 Department of Physics, College of Sciences, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq Email: Kadhim_adem@scbaghdad.edu.iq

3 Department of Physics, College of Sciences, Mustansiriyah University, Baghdad, Iraq Email: fsphd@uomustansiriyah.edu.iq

Abstract

Copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) were prepared in this work by laser ablation from a copper target immersed in deionized water. Q-switched Nd: YAG laser of fundamental wavelength (1064 nm) with different laser energies (600, 700, and 800 mJ) of 2 mm2 laser spot area, using 600 plusses were used. Structural, morphological, and optical properties of the obtained CuNPs were examined. The characteristic absorption peak for Cu were observed in the UV region (649–653) nm. According to the X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, the CuNPs have a polycrystalline structure of a cubic phase. The crystallite size increased from 9.9 nm to 18.9 nm with increasing the laser energy from 600 to 800 mJ. The surface morphology was studied using SEM, which revealed spherical particles increased in dimension according to the laser energy. The diffusion well technique was used to examine the antimicrobial impact of the prepared Cu-NPs against S. aureus and E. coli. Cu-NPs inhibit the growth of gram-negative (E. coli) bacteria with an inhibitory zone larger than gram-positive (S. aureus). The nanoparticles created in this way have antibacterial properties which might be beneficial in the creation of high effective antibacterial agents.

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