Abstract
The rapid emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria demands the development of efficient antimicrobial agents. Here, single ZnO, CuO, and Ag nanoparticles (NPs) and copper/silver-doped nanocomposites (NCs) with high porosity were prepared employing bottom-up combustion synthesis techniques. The better optoelectrical and charge transfer characteristics of modified NCs have been confirmed from the UV-vis-DRS, PL, and CV analysis. The inclusion of copper in the ZnO lattice causes a shift towards a high angle in the XRD pattern analysis. However, silver forms a separate crystal or aggregate with ZnO (ZnO/Ag) and enhances the charge transfer process through the interface. The XRD and HRTEM image analysis verified the development of Cu-ZnO/Ag/CuO NCs. The antibacterial activity was optimized by leveraging the synergistic effects of Ag, CuO, and ZnO and assessing the influence of calcination temperature. The bacterial deactivation ability of HSs NCs is significantly higher than that of bare ZnO, confirming the existence of a synergistic effect. The maximum zone of inhibition is found to be 22 mm on S. pyogenes bacteria. Here, the developed Cu-ZnO/Ag/CuO heterostructures (HSs) have been found to be a promising material for antibacterial activities. Thus, the synthesized materials have excellent future outlooks in large-scale real-life biomedical applications.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
Data are available from the corresponding author Dr. Buzuayehu Abebe, upon reasonable request.
References
Rahman, M. A. et al. Tuning the antimicrobial and photocatalytic activity of nano-ZnO by metal doping. Mater. Adv. 6, 3686–3704 (2025).
El-Sayyad, G. S. et al. An eco-friendly and cost-effective approach for the synthesis of a novel GA@CuO-ZnO nanocomposite: characterization, antimicrobial and anticancer activities. RSC Adv. 15, 513–523 (2025).
Hetta, H. F. et al. Nanotechnology as a promising approach to combat multidrug resistant bacteria: A comprehensive review and future perspectives. Biomedicines 11, 413 (2023).
Brandelli, A. Nanocomposites and their application in antimicrobial packaging. Front Chem 12, DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2024.1356304 (2024).
Punz, B. et al. Nano-scaled advanced materials for antimicrobial applications – mechanistic insight, functional performance measures, and potential towards sustainability and circularity. Environ. Sci. Nano. 12, 1710–1739 (2025).
Lithi, I. J., Nakib, A. & Chowdhury, K. I. Sahadat Hossain, M. A review on the green synthesis of metal (Ag, Cu, and Au) and metal oxide (ZnO, MgO, Co 3 O 4, and TiO 2) nanoparticles using plant extracts for developing antimicrobial properties. Nanoscale Adv. 7, 2446–2473 (2025).
Babayevska, N. et al. ZnO size and shape effect on antibacterial activity and cytotoxicity profile. Sci. Rep. 12, 8148 (2022).
Qu, B., Xiao, Z. & Luo, Y. Sustainable nanotechnology for food preservation: Synthesis, mechanisms, and applications of zinc oxide nanoparticles. J. Agric. Food Res. 19, 101743 (2025).
Ye, L. et al. The CuO and ago co-modified ZnO nanocomposites for promoting wound healing in Staphylococcus aureus infection. Mater. Today Bio. 18, 100552 (2023).
Iribarren, A., Hernández-Rodríguez, E. & Maqueira, L. Structural, chemical and optical evaluation of Cu-doped ZnO nanoparticles synthesized by an aqueous solution method. Mater. Res. Bull. 60, 376–381 (2014).
Lakshmi Prasanna, V. & Vijayaraghavan, R. Insight into the mechanism of antibacterial activity of zno: surface defects mediated reactive oxygen species even in the dark. Langmuir 31, 9155–9162 (2015).
Divband, B., Khatamian, M., Eslamian, G. R. K. & Darbandi, M. Synthesis of Ag/ZnO nanostructures by different methods and investigation of their photocatalytic efficiency for 4-nitrophenol degradation. Appl. Surf. Sci. 284, 80–86 (2013).
Trang, T. N. Q., Phan, T. B., Nam, N. D. & Thu, V. T. H. In situ charge transfer at the Ag@ZnO photoelectrochemical interface toward the high photocatalytic performance of H 2 evolution and RhB degradation. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces. 12, 12195–12206 (2020).
Wang, S. et al. Fabrication of ZnO nanoparticles modified by uniformly dispersed ag nanoparticles: enhancement of gas sensing performance. ACS Omega. 5, 5209–5218 (2020).
Fang, W. et al. Superior antibacterial activity of Cu-Ag co-doped nano-ZnO synthesized by one-step method. Mater. Today Commun. 46, 112520 (2025).
Kant, R., Jakhar, R. & Sharma, A. Enhanced dielectric and optical performance of (Cu, Ag) co-doped ZnO nanostructures for electronic applications. Mater. Technol. 37, 2679–2691 (2022).
Meher, A., Panda, N. R. & Sahu, D. Probing the multifunctionality of zno: A study on its energy storage capacity, photocatalytic property towards brilliant green dye degradation and antimicrobial features for biomedical applications. Inorg. Chem. Commun. 180, 115106 (2025).
Mahmoudi Khatir, N. & Khorsand Zak, A. Antibacterial activity and structural properties of gelatin-based sol-gel synthesized Cu-doped ZnO nanoparticles; promising material for biomedical applications. Heliyon 10, e37022 (2024).
Anunanda, B. S. M. V. & Bahuleyan, K. A. B. K. Solvent-free synthesis and characterization of nanocurcumin- reinforced zinc oxide bio-nanocomposites for enhanced optoelectronic applications. Applied Physics A 131 1–15 (2025).
Anju, P., Muhammed, H., Arun, K., Bahuleyan, B. K. & Ramesan, M. T. Synthesis of Nanocurcumin conjugated titanium dioxide bio-nanocomposites for enhanced optical, electrical, and antibacterial applications. Phys. B Condens. Matter. 711, 417269 (2025).
Ramesan, M. T., Dinsha, P. F., Krishnaraj, T. P. & Sunojkumar, P. Nanocurcumin Reinforced NiO Nanocomposites: A High-Performance Material for Energy Storage and Antibacterial Applications. ChemistrySelect 10, 1–11 (2025).
Guan, Z. L. et al. The Synthesis, Characteristics, and Application of Hierarchical Porous Materials in Carbon Dioxide Reduction Reactions. Catalysts 14, (2024).
Liu, B. et al. Synthesis of ZnO nano-powders via a novel PVA-assisted freeze-drying process. RSC Adv. 6, 110349–110355 (2016).
Muthuvel, A., Jothibas, M. & Manoharan, C. Synthesis of copper oxide nanoparticles by chemical and biogenic methods: photocatalytic degradation and in vitro antioxidant activity. Nanotechnol Environ. Eng. 5, 14 (2020).
Melegy, A. A., Abdel-monem, Y. K., Ali, F. A., Maysour, N. E. & Atta, A. M. Superparamagnetic Fe₃O₄ / ZnO / ZnFe₂O₄ nanocomposites for efficient photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue from water under UV light. (2025).
Ali, S. A., Konwar, A. N., Thakur, D., Kundu, S. & Metal Ag)/metal oxide (CuO, ZnO)@polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanocomposite free-standing films: physical and antimicrobial properties. Surf. Interfaces. 56, 105587 (2025).
Portela, R. et al. Nanostructured ZnO/sepiolite monolithic sorbents for H 2 S removal. J. Mater. Chem. A. 3, 1306–1316 (2015).
Selvi, J. et al. Optical, thermal, mechanical properties, and non-isothermal degradation kinetic studies on PVA/CuO nanocomposites. Polym. Compos. 40, 3737–3748 (2019).
Alharthi, F. A. et al. Facile one-pot green synthesis of ag–ZnO nanocomposites using potato Peeland their ag concentration dependent photocatalytic properties. Sci. Rep. 10, 20229 (2020).
Liu, J., Xu, T., Sun, X., Bai, J. & Li, C. Preparation of stable composite porous nanofibers carried SnOx-ZnO as a flexible supercapacitor material with excellent electrochemical and cycling performance. J. Alloys Compd. 807, 151652 (2019).
Ansari, S. A., Khan, M. M., Ansari, M. O., Lee, J. & Cho, M. H. Biogenic Synthesis, Photocatalytic, and photoelectrochemical performance of Ag–ZnO nanocomposite. J. Phys. Chem. C. 117, 27023–27030 (2013).
Endeshaw, S. B. et al. ZnO/CuO nanocomposites for enhanced photocatalytic and antibacterial applications: A comparative study of synthesis methods. J. Sci. Adv. Mater. Devices. 10, 100898 (2025).
Kumar, S. G. & Devi, L. G. Review on modified TiO2 photocatalysis under UV/visible light: selected results and related mechanisms on interfacial charge carrier transfer dynamics. J. Phys. Chem. A. 115, 13211–13241 (2011).
Lee, K. H. et al. Optimized Cu-doping in ZnO electro-spun nanofibers for enhanced photovoltaic performance in perovskite solar cells and photocatalytic dye degradation. RSC Adv. 14, 15391–15407 (2024).
Dhanalakshmi, M. & Losetty, V. Bio-fabrication of multifunctional CuO-ZnO nanocomposites for improved biomedical and industrial wastewater purification by experimental and molecular Docking computational investigation. J. Water Process. Eng. 70, 106933 (2025).
Vlăduț, C. M., Mocioiu, O. C. & Soare, E. M. Coinage metals doped ZnO obtained by Sol-Gel Method—A. Brief. Rev. Gels. 9, 424 (2023).
Ma, Z., Ren, F., Ming, X., Long, Y. & Volinsky, A. A. Cu-Doped ZnO electronic structure and optical properties studied by First-Principles calculations and experiments. Mater. (Basel). 12, 196 (2019).
Kumar, S., Pandey, J., Tripathi, R. & Chauhan, S. R. Photoluminescence investigations and band gap engineering in environment friendly ZnO nanorods: enhanced water treatment application and defect model. ACS Omega. 8, 27732–27742 (2023).
Panda, N. R., Acharya, B. S., Singh, T. B. & Gartia, R. K. Luminescence properties and decay kinetics of nano ZnO powder doped with cerium ions. J. Lumin. 136, 369–377 (2013).
Wang, C. C. et al. Zinc oxide nanostructures enhanced photoluminescence by carbon-black nanoparticles in Moiré heterostructures. Sci. Rep. 13, 9704 (2023).
Dash, D., Panda, N. R. & Sahu, D. Photoluminescence and photocatalytic properties of europium doped ZnO nanoparticles. Appl. Surf. Sci. 494, 666–674 (2019).
Ma, Y. et al. Charge transfer-induced photoluminescence in ZnO nanoparticles. Nanoscale 11, 8736–8743 (2019).
Ali, N. et al. Ferromagnetism from non-magnetic ions: Ag-doped ZnO. Sci. Rep. 9, 20039 (2019).
Lone, A. L. et al. Unveiling the physicochemical, photocatalytic, antibacterial and antioxidant properties of MWCNT-modified ag 2 O/CuO/ZnO nanocomposites. RSC Adv. 15, 1323–1334 (2025).
Bari, B., Tyagi, P. & Udeochu, U. Cyclic voltammetry insights into Ni/Al-carbonate hydrotalcite catalysis for methanol oxidation. Sci. Rep. 15, 13365 (2025).
Yamakawa, K., Sato, Y. & Fukutani, K. Asymmetric and symmetric absorption peaks observed in infrared spectra of CO2 adsorbed on TiO2 nanotubes. J Chem. Phys 144, (2016).
Tanuj, Sharma, A., Kumar, R., Kumar, S. & Kalra, N. Unleashing the potential of vitex Negundo leaves: innovative fabrication of Cu-Ag-ZnO nanocomposite for enhanced photocatalytic degradation of caffeine and congo red dye coupled with antimicrobial efficacy. Biomass Convers. Biorefinery. 15, 23423–23440 (2025).
Carlos, E., Martins, R., Fortunato, E. & Branquinho, R. Solution combustion synthesis: towards a sustainable approach for metal oxides. Chem. – Eur. J. 26, 9099–9125 (2020).
Nersisyan, H. H. et al. Combustion synthesis of zero-, one-, two- and three-dimensional nanostructures: current trends and future perspectives. Prog Energy Combust. Sci. 63, 79–118 (2017).
Gharpure, S., Yadwade, R. & Ankamwar, B. Non-antimicrobial and Non-anticancer properties of ZnO nanoparticles biosynthesized using different plant parts of Bixa Orellana. ACS Omega. 7, 1914–1933 (2022).
Abdelmigid, H. M. et al. Green synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles using pomegranate fruit Peel and solid coffee grounds vs. Chemical method of synthesis, with their biocompatibility and antibacterial properties investigation. Molecules 27, 1236 (2022).
Mengistu, A., Naimuddin, M. & Abebe, B. Optically amended biosynthesized crystalline copper-doped ZnO for enhanced antibacterial activity. RSC Adv. 13, 24835–24845 (2023).
Saidani, A. et al. Effect of calcination temperature on the photocatalytic activity of precipitated ZnO nanoparticles for the degradation of Rhodamine B under different light sources. Water 17, 32 (2024).
Ma, X., Zhou, S., Xu, X. & Du, Q. Copper-containing nanoparticles: mechanism of antimicrobial effect and application in dentistry-a narrative review. Frontiers Surgery 9, DOI: 10.3389/fsurg.2022.905892 (2022).
Monika, P. et al. Unveiling new frontiers in advancements of metal oxides nanoparticles (ZnO, TiO2, CuO and Ag2O) and their hybrids for antibacterial applications: A review on mechanistic insights and toxicity. Hybrid Advances 11, 100522 (2025).
Rodrigues, A. S. et al. Advances in silver nanoparticles: a comprehensive review on their potential as antimicrobial agents and their mechanisms of action elucidated by proteomics. Frontiers Microbiology 15, DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1440065 (2024).
Ngece, K., Khwaza, V., Paca, A. M. & Aderibigbe, B. A. The Antimicrobial Efficacy of Copper Complexes: A Review. Antibiotics 14, (2025).
Arrigoni, F. et al. Superoxide Reduction by Cu-Amyloid Beta Peptide Complexes: A Density Functional Theory Study. Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. (2022). (2022).
Alfei, S., Schito, G. C., Schito, A. M. & Zuccari, G. Reactive oxygen species (ROS)-Mediated antibacterial oxidative therapies: available methods to generate ROS and a novel option proposal. International J. Mol. Sciences 25, 7182 (2024).
Geioushy, R. A., El-Sherbiny, S., Mohamed, E. T., Fouad, O. A. & Samir, M. Mechanical characteristics and antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus of sustainable cellulosic paper coated with ag and Cu modified ZnO nanoparticles. Sci Rep 14, 29722 (2024).
Ishaque, M. Z. et al. Fabrication of ternary metal oxide (ZnO:NiO:CuO) nanocomposite heterojunctions for enhanced photocatalytic and antibacterial applications. RSC Adv. 13, 30838–30854 (2023).
Álvarez-Chimal, R. et al. Influence of the particle size on the antibacterial activity of green synthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles using dysphania ambrosioides extract, supported by molecular Docking analysis. Arab. J. Chem. 15, 103804 (2022).
Kawano, A. et al. Reactive oxygen species penetrate persister cell membranes of Escherichia coli for effective cell killing. Front Cell. Infect. Microbiol 10, DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2020.00496 (2020).
Meghana, S., Kabra, P., Chakraborty, S. & Padmavathy, N. Understanding the pathway of antibacterial activity of copper oxide nanoparticles. RSC Adv. 5, 12293–12299 (2015).
Liao, C., Li, Y. & Tjong, S. C. Bactericidal and cytotoxic properties of silver nanoparticles. International J. Mol. Sciences 20, 449 (2019).
Cui, J., Liang, Y., Yang, D. & Liu, Y. Facile fabrication of rice husk based silicon dioxide nanospheres loaded with silver nanoparticles as a rice antibacterial agent. Sci. Rep. 6, 21423 (2016).
Godoy-Gallardo, M. et al. Antibacterial approaches in tissue engineering using metal ions and nanoparticles: from mechanisms to applications. Bioactive Mater. 6, 4470–4490 (2021).
Lalem, A. et al. Antibacterial activity of gold nanoparticles/zinc oxide (AuNP/ZnO) hybrid nanostructures. Discov Mater. 5, 111 (2025).
Rajagopal, M. & Walker, S. Envelope structures of gram-positive bacteria. in Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology 404Springer Verlag, (2017).
Draviana, H. T. et al. Size and charge effects of metal nanoclusters on antibacterial mechanisms. Journal Nanobiotechnology 21, 428 (2023).
El-Sawaf, A. K., El-Moslamy, S. H., Kamoun, E. A. & Hossain, K. Green synthesis of trimetallic CuO/Ag/ZnO nanocomposite using Ziziphus spina-christi plant extract: characterization, statistically experimental designs, and antimicrobial assessment. Sci Rep 14, 19718 (2024).
Rashid, M. H., Sujoy, S. I., Rahman, M. S. & Haque, M. J. Aloe Vera assisted green synthesis of ag and Cu co-doped ZnO nanoparticles and a comprehensive analysis of their structural, morphological, optical, electrical and antibacterial properties. Heliyon 10, e25438 (2024).
Costas, A. et al. Silver nanoparticles decorated ZnO–CuO core–shell nanowire arrays with low water adhesion and high antibacterial activity. Sci. Rep. 13, 10698 (2023).
Ivanova, K., Pavlova, E., Ivanova, I. & Bachvarova-Nedelcheva, A. The Antimicrobial Effect and ROS Redox Activity of Nb2O5-Containing Powders Obtained by the Sol–Gel Method. Gels 11, (2025).
Joe, A. et al. Antibacterial mechanism of ZnO nanoparticles under dark conditions. J. Ind. Eng. Chem. 45, 430–439 (2017).
Thakur, N., Manna, P. & Das, J. Synthesis and biomedical applications of nanoceria, a redox active nanoparticle. J. Nanobiotechnol. 17, 84 (2019).
Jagadeeshan, S. & Parsanathan, R. Nano-metal oxides for antibacterial activity. in 59–90 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04477-0_3
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge Adama Science and Technology University for financial support.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
A.G.: Investigation, Validation, Writing– original draft. S.G.R.: Writing – review & editing, Funding acquisition. B.A.G.: Supervision, Validation, Writing – review & editing. B.A. Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing– original draft, Supervision. All authors reviewed and approved the submission of the manuscript.
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
About this article
Cite this article
Gebretsadik, A., Reddy, S.G., Gonfa, B.A. et al. Ag-decorated Cu-doped ZnO nanomaterial for enhanced antibacterial application. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-35838-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-35838-2
