Antibacterial Activity of Copper Nanoparticles (CuNPs) by Chemical Reduction Method

Copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) play an active role in the field of optics, textiles, electrical conductors, catalytic, biochemical sensors, oxidative capacity, pharmaceuticals and medical as antibacterial or sterilization agents. Copper nanoparticles also show specific physical and chemical properties. The aim of this research is to synthesize copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) with various precursors, surfactant concentrations, and temperatures to determine the performance of copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) in inhibiting microbial growth. To obtain copper nanoparticles (CuNPs), chemical reduction of Cu2+ was used as the synthesis method, using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as a surfactant and sodium borohydride (NaBH4) as a reduction agent. The copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) were characterized by particle size analyzer (PSA) for particle size; UV-visible spectrophotometer to measure absorption peak and agar method to establish antibacterial activity. The results showed that at a precursor, reducing agent, and surfactant ratio of 1:20:4, the particle size of copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) obtained was 92.03 nm. The synthetized copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) were confirmed by a strong absorption peak at 640 nm representing the Cu surface plasmon resonance. The inhibition zones for antibacterial activity were identified at copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) concentrations of 10,000 ppm and 15,000 ppm for Escherichia coli FNCC 0049 and Staphylococcus aureus FNCC 0047, respectively. © 2024 American Institute of Physics Inc.. All rights reserved.