Recovery of copper/carbon matrix nanoheteroarchitectures from recyclable electronic waste and their efficacy as antibacterial agents

Author's Department

Nanotechnology Program

Second Author's Department

Energy Materials Laboratory

Third Author's Department

Biology Department

Fourth Author's Department

Energy Materials Laboratory

Fifth Author's Department

Biology Department

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https://doi.org/10.1039/d4ra04750h

All Authors

Mariam M. Abdelkhalek, Rania Seif, Rehab Z. Abdallah, Abdallah A. Akar, Rania Siam, Nageh K. Allam

Document Type

Research Article

Publication Title

RSC Advances

Publication Date

8-15-2024

doi

10.1039/d4ra04750h

Abstract

Innovative solutions are urgently needed with the growing environmental hazard of electronic waste (e-waste) and the rising global threat of bacterial infections. This study addresses both issues by using e-waste to produce copper nanoparticles within a carbon matrix (Cu/C NPs), mitigating environmental hazards while exploring their antibacterial properties. Printed circuit boards from discarded computers were collected and treated with 2 M ammonium citrate dissolved in 8% ammonia solution. The leached solution was used to synthesize copper particles using ascorbic acid. The synthesized Cu/C NPs were characterized using various techniques such as EDX, field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The antibacterial activity of Cu/C NPs against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) was evaluated using colony-forming unit (CFU) reduction assay and calculating the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs). The Cu/C NPs were found to be effective against E. coli and S. aureus with 100% and 98% CFU reduction, respectively, with MICs ranging from 250 to 375 μg mL−1 for E. coli and 375 to 750 μg mL−1 for S. aureus, according to the bacterial load. The bactericidal kinetics showed complete bacterial elimination after 5 and 7 hours for E. coli and S. aureus, respectively. This study presents a sustainable approach for utilizing e-waste and demonstrates the potential of the recovered nanoparticles for antibacterial applications.

First Page

25750

Last Page

25758

Comments

Article. Record derived from SCOPUS.

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