Biosynthesis, characterization and antimicrobial activity of copper oxide nanoparticles (CONPs) produced using brown alga extract (Bifurcaria bifurcata)

TLDR

Nanoparticle biosynthesis is attracting attention for clean, cost‑effective production, especially metal oxide nanoparticles, yet few reports exist on biogenic copper oxide nanocrystals. This study reports the first use of brown alga *Bifurcaria bifurcata* to biosynthesize copper oxide nanoparticles sized 5–45 nm. The nanoparticles were characterized by UV–visible absorption and FTIR spectroscopy. X‑ray diffraction confirmed crystalline copper oxide, and the particles showed strong antibacterial activity against *Enterobacter aerogenes* and *Staphylococcus aureus*.

Abstract

Recently, biosynthesis of nanoparticles has attracted scientists' attention because of the necessity to develop new clean, cost-effective and efficient synthesis techniques. In particular, metal oxide nanoparticles are receiving increasing attention in a large variety of applications. However, up to now, the reports on the biopreparation and characterization of nanocrystalline copper oxide are relatively few compared to some other metal oxides. In this paper, we report for the first time the use of brown alga (Bifurcaria bifurcata) in the biosynthesis of copper oxide nanoparticles of dimensions 5–45 nm. The synthesized nanomaterial is characterized by UV–visible absorption spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectrum analysis. X-ray diffraction confirms the formation and the crystalline nature of copper oxide nanomaterial. Further, these nanoparticles were found to exhibit high antibacterial activity against two different strains of bacteria Enterobacter aerogenes (Gram negative) and Staphylococcus aureus (Gram positive).