Green synthesis of CuO/RHA-MCM-41 nanocomposite by solid state reaction: Characterization and antibacterial activity

Abstract

The fabrication and characterization of mesoporous siliceous MCM-41 nanoparticles under room temperature using rice husk ash as an alternative cheap silica source is reported. Rice husk, combusted at 600 &ordm;C for the production of amorphous silica, has been used for the preparation of CuO/RHA-MCM-41 nanocomposites containing 5.0 and 10.0 wt.% Cu under solid state reaction and calcined at 300 and 500 &deg;C. XRD results reveal diffraction peaks for each of the two compounds in the nanocomposite. In the FT-IR spectra, all bands in nanocomposite sample show a shift with respect to that of the matrix nanoparticles, indicating that the copper oxide is incorporated in the matrix. TEM images indicate that nanoparticles size of CuO is ~ 4 nm. The novel nanocomposite exhibits excellent antibacterial activity against gram-positive (<em>S. aureus</em>) and gram-negative (<em>E. coli</em>) bacteria.