Synthesis of p-CuO/n-ZnO heterostructure by microwave hydrothermal method and evaluation of its photo and bio-catalytic performance

The use of photocatalysts without noble metals is of great interest in the industrial field for the degradation of organic pollutants. In this study, a CuO/ZnO heterostructure was synthesized using the microwave hydrothermal method and characterized using various analytical techniques. The synthesized CuO/ZnO photocatalyst exhibited a low bandgap energy of 2.4 eV, enabling efficient visible light absorption. The photocatalytic activity of the CuO/ZnO heterostructure was evaluated for the degradation of Methyl Orange (MO) dye and showed a high degradation efficiency of 99 % due to its excellent electron-hole charge separation. The biological activity of the synthesized CuO/ZnO catalyst was further investigated through protein docking studies, which showed promising results. The CuO/ZnO was also evaluated for its anticancer and antibacterial properties. It exhibited effective anticancer activity against prostate cancer cells (PC-3) in a dose-dependent manner, with an IC50 value of 6.87 ± 8. In addition, it demonstrated potent antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereous and Pseudomonas aeruginola. The results of this study demonstrate the potential of CuO/ZnO heterostructures as promising materials for various applications in the fields of photocatalysis, biomedicine and antimicrobial materials. Future research in this area will focus on further optimizing the properties of the CuO/ZnO heterostructure to enhance its performance in these applications