Cu2+ cation-doped montmorillonite nanocomposites: Synthesis, characterization and antibacterial activity

A surface modification procedure was used to synthesize the powders of sodium montmorillonite (Na-MMT) modified with CuSO4.5H(2)O and Cu-Schiff base complex. SEM results revealed that the resulting particles had a cubic needle-like structure in the sample with CuSO4.5H(2)O and a coral appearance in the sample with Cu-Schiff base. In FT-IR, the strong band around 996 cm(-1) moved to 1012 cm(-1), 999 cm(-1), 994 cm(-1), 1015 cm(-1) and 1018 cm(-1) after Cu2+-doping. Adsorption confirms the replacement of alkali metals with Cu(2+ )cations for Na-MMT. The antibacterial activity of Cu+2-MMT nanocomposite was determined by disc-diffusion test and tested against various bacterial sources. As a result, it was observed that the newly synthesized MMT with the Cu-Schiff base for the first time exhibited relatively high antibacterial activity versus S. aureus, E. faecalis and E. coli bacteria even at the lowest concentration. The highest value of the inhibition (15.7 mm) was achieved using a 28% Cu-Schiff base against Gram-positive bacteria.