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In recent years, due to the advancement in nanotechnology, advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), especially sonocatalysis and photocatalysis, have become a topic of interest for the elimination of pollutants from contaminated water. In the research work reported here, an attempt has been made to study and establish a physicochemical mechanism for the catalytic activity of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) in AOPs using the degradation of dyes as model contaminants. CuO NPs exhibited brilliant sonocatalytic and photocatalytic activities for the degradation of a cationic dye (Victoria Blue) as well as an anionic dye (Direct Red 81). The degradation efficiency of CuO NPs was calculated by analysing the variation in the absorbance of dye under a UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The influence of different operating parameters on the catalytic activity of CuO NPs, such as the amount of catalysts dose, pH of the solution, and the initial dye concentration, was thoroughly investigated. In addition, the kinetic process for the degradation was also examined. It was observed that both dyes exhibited and followed the pseudo-first-order kinetics relation. The rate constant for sonocatalysis was high as compared to photocatalysis. The rate constant for both sonocatalysis and photocatalysis was successfully established, and reusability tests were done to ensure the stability of the used catalysts. To get an insight into the degradation mechanism, experiments were performed by using ⋅OH radical scavengers. The efficacy of CuO NPs for dye decolorization was found to be superior for the sonocatalyst than the photocatalyst.

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Microbial infection and antibiotic resistance is recognized as a serious problem to society from both an economical perspective and a health concern. To tackle this problem, “nanotechnology,” a multidisciplinary field of research, has provided a plethora of nanomaterials for potential applications in the antimicrobial sector. This letter discusses how antimicrobial nanomaterials are shaping this challenging field and being evaluated as therapeutic and medication delivery agents. The recently designed smart antimicrobial surfaces with switchable features that displayed synergistic antibacterial action were also highlighted. To end, we provide the current scenario and future perspectives with regards to emerging antimicrobial nano-engineered materials and nanotechnology.