An eco-friendly and cost-effective approach for the synthesis of a novel GA@CuO-ZnO nanocomposite: characterization, antimicrobial and anticancer activities

Gharieb S El-Sayyad; El-Sayed R El-Sayed; Samar H Rizk; Mostafa A Abdel-Maksoud; Adel M Zakri; Abdul Malik; Mohamed N Malash; Amr H Hashem

doi:10.1039/d4ra04312j

An eco-friendly and cost-effective approach for the synthesis of a novel GA@CuO-ZnO nanocomposite: characterization, antimicrobial and anticancer activities

RSC Adv. 2025 Jan 6;15(1):513-523. doi: 10.1039/d4ra04312j. eCollection 2025 Jan 2.

Authors

Gharieb S El-Sayyad^{1

2}, El-Sayed R El-Sayed³, Samar H Rizk⁴, Mostafa A Abdel-Maksoud⁵, Adel M Zakri⁶, Abdul Malik⁷, Mohamed N Malash⁸, Amr H Hashem⁹

Affiliations

¹ Medical Laboratory Technology Department, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences Technology, Badr University in Cairo (BUC) Badr city Cairo 11829 Egypt [email protected].
² Drug Microbiology Lab, Drug Radiation Research Department, National Center for Radiation Research and Technology (NCRRT), Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority (EAEA) Cairo Egypt.
³ Department of Food Chemistry and Biocatalysis, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences Norwida 25 50-375 Wrocław Poland.
⁴ Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ahram Canadian University (ACU) Giza Egypt.
⁵ Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University P.O. Box 2455 Riyadh 11451 Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Plant Production Department, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University Saudi Arabia.
⁸ Microbiology and Immunology Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ahram Canadian University (ACU) 6th October City Giza Egypt.
⁹ Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University Nasr City Cairo 11884 Egypt [email protected].

Abstract

In this study, a nanocomposite based on copper oxide-zinc oxide nanoparticles and Gum Arabic (GA@CuO-ZnO nanocomposite) was successfully synthesized using green method. Characterization results revealed that the prepared nanocomposite appeared at the nanoscale level, showed excellent dispersion, and formed stable colloidal nano-solutions. The bimetallic GA@CuO-ZnO nanocomposite was evaluated for its anticancer, antibacterial, and antifungal properties. Cytotoxicity testing of the synthesized GA@CuO-ZnO nanocomposite against Wi38 and Vero normal cell lines showed IC₅₀ values of 143.3 and 220.9 μg ml^-1, respectively, indicating that the nanocomposite is safe for use. Moreover, the synthesized GA@CuO-ZnO nanocomposite showed anticancer activity against HepG2 and MCF7 cell lines, with IC₅₀ values of 54.7 and 79.2 μg ml^-1, respectively. The nanocomposite also showed promising antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermis, and Bacillus subtilis, with MIC values ranging from 31.25 to 62.5 μg ml^-1. Furthermore, the prepared nanocomposite exhibited antifungal activity against Candida albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans, Aspergillus fumigatus and A. brasiliensis, with an MIC of 31.25 μg ml^-1 against all tested fungal strains, except A. fumigatus (MIC 125 μg ml^-1). In conclusion, the synthesized GA@CuO-ZnO nanocomposite was successfully synthesized, and it exhibited promising antibacterial, antifungal and anticancer activities at safe doses.