Electrochemical synthesized copper oxide nanoparticles for enhanced photocatalytic and antimicrobial activity

Abstract The electrochemical method has been investigated for the synthesis of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) under different reaction conditions. The CuO NPs were used as excellent photocatalyst for the degradation of different organic dyes under the illumination of sunlight irradiation. The highest degradation was 93% for methylene blue. The rate constant for MB, MR, and CR was found to be first-order with values 0.02059, 0.02046, and 0.01749 min −1 , respectively. The antimicrobial efficiency of CuO NPs was investigated against bacterial strains ( Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus ) and fungal strains ( Aspergillus nigres and Candida albicans ).