Preparation and Antibacterial Activity of Nano Copper Oxide- Loaded Zeolite 10X

Copper oxide nanosheet-loaded zeolite 10X nanocomposites (CuO-zeolite NCs) were successfully prepared by modifying zeolite 10X with CuSO₄ aqueous solution. The formation of copper oxide nanosheets on the surface of zeolite 10X was observed by SEM. The thickness of CuO nanosheets was about 30-40 nm, and the width ranged from 200 nm to 300 nm. The XRD patterns showed that the new diffraction peaks of copper oxide appeared at 35.6° and 38.8°. According to the XPS results, the Cu 2p_3/2 and Cu 2p_1/2 peaks in CuO-zeolite NC were centered at 934.1 eV and 953.8 eV, which could be attributed to Cu(II). The EDS analysis revealed that the energy spectra of calcium gradually decreased as the copper ion concentration increased during the preparation of CuO-zeolite NCs. Meanwhile, the energy spectra of copper increased gradually, and the highest content of copper in CuO-zeolite NCs reached 22.35 wt.%. The BET surface areas of zeolite 10X and CuO-zeolite NCs were 587 and 363 m²/g, respectively, based on the N₂ adsorption-desorption experiment. The antibacterial activities of CuO-zeolite NC were evaluated using Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). The antibacterial activities were related to both copper ion content in CuO-zeolite NCs and the particle size of copper oxide. The results showed that nano CuO-loaded zeolite 10X inhibited the activity of E. coli and S. aureus. CuO-zeolite NCs are expected to be further used in antifouling coating.