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Assessment of Properties, Photocatalytic Activity, Cytotoxicity, and Antibacterial Activity of (Cu, Cr) Dual-Doped ZnO Nanoparticles

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Abstract

Co-precipitation, a minimal technique, was used successfully to create a novel (Cr, Cu) dual-doped ZnO nanoparticles (NPs). X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersion X-ray (EDX) analysis, scanning electron microscopes (SEM), and UV–visible absorption spectra had been used to characterize the produced nanoparticle. According to the XRD pattern, the produced NPs have a hexagonal wurtzite structure with a high phase purity. The substitution of Cr increased optical absorption and induced new absorption peaks in the visible regions that correspond to the transitions from 4A2(4F) to CB and 4A2(4F) to 4T1(4F). Absorption of photons in the visible region led to an increase in the photo-generated electron–hole pairs and hence RO-species which are responsible for photocatalytic activity. Therefore, the (Cu, Cr) dual doped ZnO NPs had unique photocatalytic activity under sunlight irradiation. MTT assay was employed to analyse the in-vitro cytotoxicity of Cr-doped Zn0.98Cu0.02O NPs on human normal PBMC. In which, the toxicity is enhanced by a proliferation in Cr concentration and has very small amounts at low concentrations and significantly at high concentrations. The antibacterial characteristics of the synthesized NPs were examined against the bacterial strains P. putida and B. subtilis.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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  1. Department of Physics, Saveetha School of Engineering, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Saveetha University, Thandalam, Chennai, 602 105, India

    M. Ashokkumar & M. Rajkumar

  2. Department of Physics, Saveetha Engineering College, Thandalam, Chennai, 602 105, India

    K. S. Pugazhvadivu

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MA: supervision, conceptualization, investigation, writing–original draft; MR: formal analysis, investigation; KSP: writing–review & editing, investigation.

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Ashokkumar, M., Rajkumar, M. & Pugazhvadivu, K.S. Assessment of Properties, Photocatalytic Activity, Cytotoxicity, and Antibacterial Activity of (Cu, Cr) Dual-Doped ZnO Nanoparticles. J Inorg Organomet Polym 33, 2974–2983 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10904-023-02730-9

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