Environmentally benign production of cupric oxide nanoparticles and various utilizations of their polymeric hybrids in different technologies

[Display omitted] •Fabrication of nanosize CuO through the plant and fruits extracts.•Preparation of antibacterial fabrics and hydrogels by CuO for biomedical area.•Application of CuO/polymer NCs in remediation industry.•Preparation of several bio-sensors and electrodes with polymer/CuO NCs.•Enhancement in the conductivity behavior of several polymers by CuO. Cupric oxide (CuO) is an affordable and valuable semiconductor material with brilliant physiochemical features such as antibacterial, antioxidant, low-cost, as well as non-toxicity. Also, this metal oxide has promising usages in water remediation, biomedical, bio-sensors, electrodes, photocatalysts, and so on. On the other side, polymers play a notable role in social life. By insertion of CuO into polymers, new materials with developed features for diverse applications can be achieved. So, there is a requirement to attain current data and collected information about them. Thus, this comprehensive review focuses on the design, properties, and applications of polymer/CuO nanocomposites (NCs). CuO NCs are introduced in three parts, bio-NCs, conductive NCs, and other NCs with different polymers, and significant usages of the manufactured materials are presented in remediation, sensing materials, drug delivery, catalysis, biomedical, nanofluids, textile, lithium-ion batteries, and solar cells. At first, this review presents a narrative summary of the eco-friendly approaches and utilization of nano-sized CuO. Then, surface treatment methods of this metal oxide by various modifiers for good dispersion in the matrixes are described. After that, various polymeric hybrids of CuO are introduced, and the influence of nano-CuO on the polymer characteristics is examined.