J. Mater. Sci. Technol. ›› 2018, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (12): 2359-2367.DOI: 10.1016/j.jmst.2018.06.011

Special Issue: Nanomaterials 2018 Composites 2018

• Orginal Article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Antibacterial activity of Cu2O and Ag co-modified rice grains-like ZnO nanocomposites

Dunhua Hongabc, Guangzhong Caoa*(), Junle Qub, Yuanming Dengc*(), Jiaonin Tangc   

  1. a Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Electromagnetic Control, College of Mechatronics and Control Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
    b Key Lab of Optoelectronic Devices and Systems of Ministry of Education/Guangdong Province, College of Optoelectronic Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
    c Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Special Functional Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
  • Received:2017-07-18 Revised:2017-08-27 Accepted:2017-09-25 Online:2018-12-20 Published:2018-11-15
  • Contact: Cao Guangzhong,Deng Yuanming

Abstract:

In this work, a series of Cu2O-Ag/ZnO, Cu2O/ZnO and Ag/ZnO nanocomposites with various compositions were prepared via a hydrothermal method followed by chemical modification, and their antibacterial performance was investigated in detail. X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy results confirmed that 31?nm Cu2O and 30?nm Ag nanoparticles are well-dispersed on 202?nm ZnO grains to form a Cu2O/ZnO and Ag/ZnO heterojunction, respectively. The bi-heterojuction structure in the Cu2O-Ag/ZnO provided a synergistic effect on antibacterial activity, and the (Cu2O)0.04Ag0.06ZnO0.9 nanocomposites showed the highest antimicrobial activity of all samples with minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus as low to 31.25?μg/mL, 250?μg/mL, 125?μg/mL and 500?μg/mL, respectively. This is the first report of the antibacterial activities of Cu2O and Ag co-modified ZnO nanocomposites.

Key words: Antibacterial activity, Bi-heterojuction structure, Antibacterial mechanism, Hydrothermal route, Cu2O-Ag/ZnO nanocomposite