Preparation of polyurethane/CuO coating film and the study of antifungal activity

In this study, the effect of CuO nanoparticles on antifungal activity of polyurethane/CuO coating film was studied. CuO nanoparticles with concentrations of 1%, 2% and 5% w/v were prepared. Characterisation of nanoparticles and the coated surface were carried out using UV-vis Spectroscopy, DLS, XRD and TEM. The images of TEM were used to study the dispersion of nanoparticles in the coating film. The best nanoparticle size distribution was obtained in a coating with 2 wt% of nanoparticles, in which by further increasing the concentration up to 5 wt%, the nanoparticles dispersion was diminished and rather accumulation was observed in the coating film. The antifungal activity of polyurethane /CuO coating film against one type of fungus (penicillium) was measured by disc-diffusion method and the optimum conditions were determined.