LAUSR

Abstract The present study reports, the novel, facile, environmentally synthesized silver/copper oxide/bentonite (Ag/CuO/bent) nanocomposite with and without aliphatic N -trimethyl-N-propylammonium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide ionic liquid medium (capping agent) by thermal decomposition method. The synthesized nanocomposites were characterized by XRD, XPS, SEM, TEM with SAED, EDX, FT-IR, UV–Vis DRS, and UV–Vis spectroscopy techniques to see the crystalline size, morphology, surface composition, functional groups, and optical bandgap of the nanocomposites. TEM, EDX, and XPS were used to analyze the chemical elemental composition by observing the behavior and oxidation states of the Ag 3d, Cu 2p, and O 1s lines. From these results, we are corroborating the formation of the quasi-spherical shape of Ag/CuO nanoparticles intercalated into the bentonite surfaces. Interestingly, the Ag/CuO/bent nanocomposite with IL showed excellent antibacterial activities against Gram-positive strain Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus ) and Gram-negative strain Escherichia coli ( E. coli ) due to the decreased particle size and higher specific surface area. The cytotoxicity effects of nanocomposites were investigated in human embryonic kidney (HEK 293) cell line. The findings and the results suggested that Ag/CuO/bent/IL nanocomposite has an excellent cell attachment, proliferation, biocompatibility, and cytotoxicity towards HEK 293 cell line. These results confirm that the nontoxic and biocompatibility of Ag/CuO/bent/IL nanocomposite can be useful as a long-term antibacterial material for all in vitro applications.