Enhanced anti-bacterial activities of ZnO nanoparticles and ZnO/CuO nanocomposites synthesized using Vaccinium arctostaphylos L. fruit extract

A green synthesis route was developed for preparation of the ZnO nanoparticles and ZnO/CuO nanocomposites by using Vaccinium arctostaphylos L. fruit extract, and their anti-bacterial activities against two pathogenic bacteria, Escherichia coli (Gram negative) and Staphylococcus aureus (Gram positive), were investigated. The fabricated nanomaterials were characterized by XRD, EDX, FESEM, TEM, TGA, FT-IR, UV-vis DRS and BET instruments. The results showed that the sizes of ZnO and CuO nanoparticles in the ZnO/CuO (10%) nanocomposite were 12 and 8 nm, respectively. In addition, specific surface areas of the ZnO (W), ZnO (ext) and ZnO/CuO samples were 29.3, 27.5 and 18.0 m