Assessment of properties, photocatalytic activity, cytotoxicity, and antibacterial activity of (Cu, Cr) dual-doped ZnO nanoparticles

Abstract

Co-precipitation, a minimal technique, was used to successfully create novel (Cr, Cu) dual-doped ZnO nanoparticles (NPs). X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersion X-ray (EDX) analysis, scanning electron microscopes (SEM), and UV-visible absorption spectra had been used to characterize the produced nanoparticle. The produced NPs have a hexagonal wurtzite structure with a high phase purity, according to the XRD pattern. the substitution of Cr increased optical absorption and inducing new absorption peaks in the visible regions that correspond to the transitions from 4A2(4F) to CB and 4A2(4F) to 4T1(4F). Absorption of photon in the visible region led to increase the photo-generated electron-hole pairs and hence RO-species which responsible for photocatalytic activity. Therefore the (Cu, Cr) dual doped ZnO NPs had excellent photocatalytic activity under sun light irradiation. MTT assay was employed to analyze the in vitro cytotoxicity of Cr-doped Zn0.98Cu0.02O NPs on human normal PBMC. The toxicity is enhanced by an increase in Cr concentration in very small amounts at low concentrations and significantly at high concentrations. The antibacterial characteristics of the produced NPs was examined against the bacterial strains P. putida and B. subtilis.