Study of structural features and antibacterial property of ZnO/CuO nanocomposites derived from solution combustion synthesis

ZnO/CuO nanocomposite was synthesized by solution combustion method using three organic fuels - EDTA, Citric Acid and Oxalic Acid with Zinc Nitrate Hexahydrate and Copper Nitrate Trihydrate as precursors. ZnO/CuO nanocomposite was characterised for PXRD, SEM and EDAX to analyse the Structural, Morphological properties and Elemental composition. Crystallite size of 13.82 nm was found for the ZnO/CuO nanocomposites prepared from Oxalic Acid (OA). Further, ZnO/CuO nanocomposites synthesised from three different metal nitrate weight ratios (25:75, 45:55 and 65:35) using OA as fuel and Antibacterial studies was carried out on E.coli by disc diffusion method. PXRD results confirm that the nanocomposites prepared were in nano domain with the average crystallite size was found to be in the range of 13-21 nm. SEM micrographs of ZnO/CuO nanocomposites showed hexagonal ZnO and spherical CuO particles and the particle size was found to be in the range of 30-60 nm. EDAX results confirmed the presence of four elements namely C, O, Cu and Zn. Antibacterial studies showed that the inhibition zone of the nanocomposite was maximum (24 mm for 20 μL) for the sample having high concentration of ZnO nanoparticles and it depends on the crystallite size of the ZnO/CuO nanocomposite.