Eco-Friendly Synthesis of Copper Oxide Nanoparticles Using Syzygium cumini Leaf Extract and Their Inclusion in Nanocomposites with Melamine: Morphological and Antimicrobial Studies.

Abstract

The considerable environmental hazards resulted from the conventional chemical approaches have triggered the attention of the research community of nanotechnology to investigate the preparation of NPs by using inexpensive greener method of nanomaterials synthesis. In the present study, cupric oxide (CuO) nanoparticles were synthesized by green route employing an aqueous leaf extract of Syzygium cumini plant, which is already known to be rich in natural reducing and stabilizing phytoconstituents (flavonoids, polyphenols, tannins, etc). Melamine modified on the prepared CuO and CuO–melamine nanocomposites were also combined with melamine (C₃H₆N₆) to improve the structural stability and antibacterial activity. The prepared nps and its composites were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX). The SEM and TEM results showed that the particles were nearly spherical to slightly irregular with the average size of 20–200 nm, and the purity of the element (Cu and O) and the successful introduction of CuO and melamine were demonstrated by the EDX. The antibacterial properties of them and 6 pathogenic bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, escherichia coli. The nanocomposites exhibited significantly enhanced antibacterial activity as compared to CuO nanoparticles and control antibiotics at maximum inhibition zones of 34 mm. These data suggest that the plant-mediated CuO NPs and their melamine composites can be addressed for effective and ecofriendly antimicrobial utilization in biomedicine and environmental applications.