Dr. Valdés-Morales, Héctor

In recent years, infections and the escalating resistance to antimicrobial drugs have emerged as significant health concerns. Due to their remarkable effectiveness and minimal potential for bacteria to develop resistance, copper-based nanomaterials are being considered as prospective alternatives to conventional antibiotics. In this study, copper pyrophosphate nanoflakes were synthesized using a simple hydrothermal technique with an inorganic phosphate source. These nanoflakes, characterized by a high aspect ratio, exert a substantial impact on bacterial cell walls, effectively eliminating microbial pathogens. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed the monoclinic phase of the copper pyrophosphate nanomaterial, while the band gap energy of 2.7 eV was estimated from the Tauc plot. Additionally, the antimicrobial efficacy of Cu2P2O7 was evaluated against various gram-negative, gram-positive, and fungal pathogens at different concentrations. Notably, all tested bacterial strains exhibited moderate antimicrobial effects at concentrations of 5 mg/mL. For instance, S. aureus and E. coli displayed a 13 mm zone of inhibition, demonstrating excellent activity and lower cytotoxicity. These findings underscore the potential of Cu2P2O7 as a promising candidate for the development of novel drugs targeting pathogenic bacteria affecting human health.

In this work, we prepared bismuth oxide (Bi2O3) nanoparticles with and without fuels (citric acid and urea) using a one-pot solid-state combustion method at 400 °C for visible light photocatalytic degradation of acid blue 25 (AB). The nanoparticle prepared with fuel greatly influences the Bi2O3 properties such as morphology, chemical, structural, and optical properties. Bi2O3 prepared with citric acid as fuel act as an effective photocatalyst for the breakdown of acid blue 25 within 60 min under visible light irradiation. The enhanced photocatalytic property of Bi2O3 is due to the narrow band gap, high crystallinity, flower-like morphology with high active sites, and light stability of the material. Furthermore, an effective photogenerated charge separation, high charge transfer, and lower band gap, improved the absorbing capacity in the visible region of Bi2O3 (1) and enhanced its photocatalytic ability. In the photocatalytic process, the superoxide radicals (O2·) anion played a significant role during the degradation of acid blue 25. The Bi2O3 (1) maintained its effectiveness after three reaction cycles without suffering any appreciable change in structural and functional stability. These findings demonstrated an easy method for treating the hazardous effluents into non-toxic small molecules, which can be potentially applied to purify the various textile effluent.