Comparative Study of the Bacteriological Activity of Zinc Oxide and Copper Oxide Nanoparticles

Abstract

Interest in nanomaterials, especially metal oxides, in the fight against resistant and constantly changing bacterial strains, is more and more expressed. Their very high reactivity, resulting from their large surface area, promoted them to the rank of potential successors of antibiotics.Our work consisted of the synthesis of zinc oxide (ZnO) and copper oxide (CuO) in the nanoparticle state and the study of their bactericidal effect on various Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial strains.The nanoparticles of metal oxides have been synthesized by sol-gel method. Qualitative analysis and characterization by UV / Visible and infrared spectrophotometry and X-ray diffraction confirmed that the synthetic products are crystalline. The application of the Scherrer equation allows to determine the size of the two metal oxides, namely: 76.94 nm for ZnO and 24.86 nm for CuO. The bactericidal effect of ZnO and CuO nanoparticles was tested on Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus hominis, Staphylococcus haemolyticus, Enterococcus facials)and Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Schigella, Klepsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa). The results indicate that the tested metal oxides nanoparticles have an effect that varies depending on bacterial species. Indeed, Gram-positive bacteria show greater sensitivity to ZnO nanoparticles whereas Gram-negative bacteria are more sensitive to CuO nanoparticles.

Copper Oxide Nanoparticles Synthesis Using Aerva Javanica and Their Antimicrobial Activities

“…The difference in resistance or sensitivity may be due to cell wall structural differences, metabolism, physiology and magnitude of contact of microbes with nanoparticles (Gopalakrishnan et al, 2012). Merah et al, (2019) described similar results of CuO NPs which showed enhanced efficacy on gram negative as that of gram-positive bacteria that would be probably owing to size difference and due to Zn 2+ and Cu 2+ characteristics. Less efficacy of CuO NPs on gram positive bacteria may be due to augmented multi drug resistance.…”

Mechanistic Study of Antibacterial Properties of Chemically Synthesize Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles

“…In recent years, nanoparticles play crucial role in food preservation and packaging. In the present investigation, the ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized using wet chemical approach [24]. The structural characterization of ZnO nanoparticles were carried out using X-ray Diffractometer.…”