Biofabrication of ecofriendly copper oxide nanoparticles using Ocimum americanum aqueous leaf extract: analysis of in vitro antibacterial, anticancer, and photocatalytic activities

Nanotechnology tends to be a swiftly growing field of research that actively influences and inhibits the growth of bacteria/cancer. Noble metal nanoparticles (NPs) such as silver, copper, and gold have been used to damage bacterial and cancer growth over recent years; however, the toxicity of higher NPs concentrations remains a major issue. The copper oxide nanoparticles (CuONPs) were therefore fabricated using a simple green chemistry approach. Biofabricated CuONPs were characterized using UV-visible, FE-SEM with EDS, HR-TEM, FT-IR, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, and XPS analysis. Formations of CuONPs have been observed by UV-visible absorbance peak at 360.74 nm. The surface morphology of the CuONPs showed the spherical structure and size (~ 68 nm). The EDS spectrum of CuONPs has proved to be the key signals of copper (Cu) and oxygen (O) components. FT-IR analysis, to validate the important functional biomolecules (O–H, C=C, C–H, C–O) are responsible for reduction and stabilization of CuONPs. The monoclinic end-centered crystalline structures of CuONPs were confirmed with XRD planes. The electrochemical oxygen states of the CuONPs have been studied using spectroscopy of the Raman and X-ray photoelectron. After successful preparation, CuONPs examined their antibacterial, anticancer, and photocatalytic activities. Green-fabricated CuONPs were promising antibacterial candidate against human pathogenic gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli, Vibrio cholerae, Salmonella typhimurium, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Aeromonas hydrophila, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. CuONPs were demonstrated the excellent anticancer activity against A549 human lung adenocarcinoma cell line. Furthermore, CuONPs exhibited photocatalytic degradation of azo dyes such as eosin yellow (EY), rhodamine 123 (Rh 123), and methylene blue (MB). Biofabricated CuONPs may therefore be an important biomedical research for the aid of bacterial/cancer diseases and photocatalytic degradation of azo dyes.