Ag nanoparticles in metal oxide highly supportive for photocatalytic and cytotoxic properties: experimental and theoretical analysis

In this paper, Ag NPs doped metal oxides (MO-Ag NPs), such as ZnO NPs, CuO NPs, and NiO NPs, were prepared and completely characterised by different analytical methods (XRD, SEM, EDS, TGA, Raman, TEM, and HRTEM). The crystal size determined by XRD is about 15¿36 nm, consistent with those estimated by HRTEM. The bandgap energy determined for the samples is corroborated with a density of states (DOS) derived from Density Functional Theory (DFT), showing a lower bandgap energy for the samples MO NPs-Ag NPs. Metal oxide Ag doping was modelled as Ni160O160-Ag16, Cu160O160-Ag16, and Zn150O150-Ag16 to show the semiconducting nature with a wide bandgap, observing the enhancement of the conductivity properties. A decrease of electrochemical charge transfer resistance (RCT) was seen (855 ¿ for ZnO-Ag 5%, 536 ¿ for CuO-Ag 5%, and 611 ¿ for NiO-Ag 5% as compared to 1278 ¿ for ZnO NPs, 1958 ¿ for CuO NPs, and 1441 ¿ for NiO NPs due to the presence of Ag NPs in the samples. The above samples were used to oxidise methylene blue (MB) under UV light, exhibiting a significant effect from the Ag loading, consisting of adsorption and antibacterial properties. The cytotoxicity of the materials was evaluated using confocal cell imaging, which brightened if the Ag NPs were present. © 2025 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Ag nanoparticles in metal oxide highly supportive for photocatalytic and cytotoxic properties: experimental and theoretical analysis Academic Article in Scopus