Eco-friendly cost-effective approach for synthesis of copper oxide nanoparticles for enhanced photocatalytic performance

This research aimed to explore eco-friendly green synthesis of CuONPs using Annona muricata leaf extract that investigated for their photocatalytic activity and cytotoxic property on human breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7). The morphological and structural characteristics of eco-friendly synthesized CuONPs were confirmed by UV–vis spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (BIO-TEM), scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX), and Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The XRD, SEM and BIO-TEM analyses showed 30–40 nm as the size of synthesized CuONPs, the pure crystal in nature, nearly spherical in shape. The photocatalytic activity (PCA) of CuONPs was evaluated by photodegradation of textiles dyes reactive red 120 (RR120) and methyl orange (MO) under sun light irradiation. The result depicts around 90%, 95% decolorization efficiency at 60 min, respectively. In addition, the assessment of in-vitro cytotoxicity activity of CuONps on cancer cell exposed a dose dependent manner. The results concluded that the CuONPs synthesized by green route can be used as a photocatalyst for decomposition of textile dyes in eco-friendly manner.