Study of antifungal activities of CuO/ZnO nanocomposites synthesized by co-precipitation method

Abstract

In this work, series of CuO/ZnO functional nanocomposites were synthesized through co-precipitation method using CuCl2·H2O and ZnCl2 as starting materials with various molar ratio of copper:zinc, followed by annealing process at 600°C for 2 hours to obtain CuO/ZnO nanocomposites. The structures of the composites were analyzed using X-ray diffraction and field emission scanning electron microscopy. For XRD result, diffraction peaks of the composites reveal the well-crystalline characteristic indicating the mixture phase of CuO and ZnO. SEM results show different morphologies of CuO, ZnO and Cu-Zn oxide nanocomposites appearing in quasi spherical structure.The composites were used for antifungal activity via agar disk diffusion method. It is found that the composite with certain ratio of Cu:Zn exhibits superiority in partial inhibition of strain AspergillusflavusTrichoderma comparing to either pure CuO or ZnO. © (2013) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland.