https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-023-03950-1
Regular Article
Photocatalytic and antibacterial properties of pure and niobium-doped copper oxide nanoparticles
Department of Physics, Guru Nanak Dev University, 143005, Amritsar, Punjab, India
b
kanwarjitsingh.phy@gndu.ac.in
Received:
26
November
2022
Accepted:
4
April
2023
Published online:
13
May
2023
Nb2O5 doped CuO nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared via simple ball milling technique. CuO nanoparticles doped with 0 (NB-0), 1 (NB-1) and 3 (NB-3) wt % of Nb2O5 were ball milled for 48 h. and then heated for 6 h. at 600 °C. Different characterization techniques were used for the investigation of structural and optical properties of Nb2O5 doped CuO nanoparticles. X-ray diffraction patterns of synthesized samples confirmed the monoclinic phase of the CuO with successful doping of Nb2O5 in host matrix. Unit cell volume and lattice parameters of NPs show complete dependency on the concentration of Nb2O5. Vibrational properties of the CuO nanoparticles were evaluated by FTIR spectrometer. UV–Visible spectroscopy data were used to evaluate the optical band energy of the samples. Photocatalytic behavior of nanoparticles was studied. 5 mg powder of each catalyst (NB-0, NB-1 and NB-3) was separately dispersed in 250 ml dye aqueous solution (10 g/1L). The mixture solution was stirred magnetically in dark for 1 h before photocatalytic test. Furthermore, the sample NB-3 (3 wt %) shows fastest and maximum rate of photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye among all the samples. The highest photocatalytic efficiency is obtained by NB-3 at (75%) as compared to NB-1 at (71.0%) and NB-0 at (67.5%). It is observed that almost complete degradation of Methylene Blue (MB) dye occurred under UV-light radiance within 150 min. Photocatalytic effect was due to interfacial charge transfer and reduced recombination rate of charge-carriers. The antibacterial activities of Nb2O5 doped CuO NPs against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were explored in culture media by agar diffusion method. The experiment confirms that Nb2O5 doped CuO nanoparticles have the potential to degrade the organic pollutants and they have good candidature for becoming agents for bacteria inactivation. Also, enhancement is observed in antibacterial and degradation activity by increasing doping concentration. Moreover, authors report better photocatalytic activity against MB dye as well as better zone of inhibitions against E. Coli bacteria by employing niobium-doped copper oxide nanoparticles.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
