Silver decorated copper oxide (Ag@CuO) nanocomposite enhances ROS-mediated bacterial architecture collapse

The increasing prevalence of hospital-acquired infection and the evolution and increasing resistance of pathogens toward antibiotics can cause serious health problems and disease-related mortality. In this study, we introduce a simple process and inexpensive method to synthesize CuO nanoparticles and silver-functionalized copper oxide (Ag@CuO) nanocomposites as well as to validate their potential antibacterial efficiency against the following three common nosocomial infection-associated bacterial pathogens: E. coli, S. enterica and S. aureus. We show that Ag@CuO significantly disturbs pathogen growth and viability compared with CuO. Further, we find that Gram-positive S. aureus is susceptible to CuO-induced cell structure damage, while Ag@CuO can induce more extensive architectural destruction and ROS generation in both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial pathogens. This study indicates that Ag@CuO nanoparticles can act as a disinfection system and can be used in antibacterial applications for the future prevention of nosocomial infection in medical and/or health institutions.