Fabrication of Cu/TiO2 nanocomposite: Toward an enhanced antibacterial performance in the absence of light

Incorporation of nanoparticles is becoming a new strategy for improving antibacterial activity. In this paper, Copper (Cu)/titanium dioxide (TiO2) (CTD) nanocomposite was easily prepared by photocatalytic reduction, and its structure as well as antibacterial activity in the absence of light was investigated in detail. The results show that the CTD nanocomposite exhibits good antibacterial activity even in the absence of light. The minimal inhibition concentration against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus is 21.4 μg/mL and 14.3 μg/mL, respectively, which are much lower than that of pure silver, Cu and TiO2 nanoparticles. In addition, the enhanced antibacterial effect of the CTD nanocomposite may be explained by synergistic antibacterial effect.

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► CTD composite was facile synthesized by photocatalytic reduction.
► CTD exhibits excellent antibacterial activity due to synergistic effect.
► The antibacterial mechanism of CTD is bactericidal by disrupting cell wall.