Prominent bactericidal characteristics of silver-copper nanocomposites produced via pulse laser ablation

Abstract

This paper reports the characterization and antibacterial performance evaluation of some spherical and stable crystalline silver (Ag)/copper (Cu) nanocomposites (Ag-CuNCs) prepared in deionized water (DIW) using pulse laser ablation in liquid (PLAL) method. The influence of various laser fluences (LFs) on the structural, morphological, optical and antibacterial properties of these NCs were determined. The UV–Vis absorbance of these NCs at 403 nm and 595 nm was gradually increased accompanied by a blue shift. XRD patterns disclosed the nucleation of highly crystalline Ag-CuNCs with their face centered cubic lattice structure. TEM images showed the existence of spherical NCs with size range of 3–20 nm and lattice fringe spacing of approximately 0.145 nm. EDX profiles of Ag-CuNCs indicated their high purity. The antibacterial effectiveness of the Ag-CuNCs was evaluated by the inhibition zone diameter (IZD) and optical density (OD600) tests against Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) bacteria. The proposed NCs revealed the IZD values in the range of 22–26 mm and 20–25 mm when tested against E. coli and S. aureus bacteria, respectively. The Ag-CuNCs prepared at LF of 14.15 J/cm2 revealed the best bactericidal activity. It is established that by controlling the laser fluence the bactericidal effectiveness of the Ag-CuNCs can be tuned.