Antimicrobial and Nonlinear Optical Studies of Copper Oxide Nanoparticles

Copper oxide nanoparticles were successfully prepared by a simple solution combustion technique with cupric nitrate and glycine solutions. The formation of copper oxide nanoparticles was confirmed by UV-visible spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. The surface structure of nanoparticles was obtained by scanning electron microscopy. UV-visible absorption spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction confirm the existence of mixed-phase copper oxide nanoparticles. The standard agar well diffusion technique has been adopted to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of nanoparticles and found suitable for antimicrobial applications. The nonlinear optical activity of the copper oxide nanoparticles was studied using Z-scanning with a continuous-wave laser at 532 nm wavelength. The experimental result suggests that the prominent nonlinear absorption in the nanoparticles having a nonlinear absorption coefficient of 7.14 x 10(-2) cm/W. Nanoparticles display superior optical limitation due to strong nonlinear absorption in the nanoparticles which may be attributed to interband and intraband transitions.