Short channeled Zr-SBA-15 supporting copper-based nanoparticles: synthesis, characterization, and antibacterial activity

Antibiotic resistance and the high infectivity of bacteria pose an increasingly threat to human health. Mesoporous silica supporting metal-based nanoparticles are considered an effective strategy to fight bacterial infections. In this work, the short channeled mesoporous Zr-SBA-15 (SBA-S) material is synthesized by sol-gel method using ZrOCl 2 ·8H 2 O as an additive. Nanoparticles based on four types of copper species, Cu, Cu 2 O, CuO, and CuSO 4 , are successfully prepared, forming the Cu-loaded SBA-S materials. The composite structures are comprehensively characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD , XPS , UV–Vis DRS, FTIR, ICP , TG, and BET analysis. It turns out that all structures maintain the arrays of highly ordered pore channels, high specific surface area (SSA, ≥500 m 2  g −1 ), and narrow width of pore size (∼7 nm). The release of Cu 2+ ions shows the order is CuSO 4 /SBA-S > CuO/SBA-S > Cu 2 O/SBA-S > Cu/SBA-S. Antibacterial activity assay indicates that CuO/SBA-S shows 1.25 and 0.62 mg mL −1 of the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values against E. coli and S. aureus . The acting mechanism would include the free Cu 2+ ions and the nanoparticle-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS). We propose that the cheap CuO/SBA-S material would be a promising antibacterial agent with the good antibacterial activity.