Articles & Issues
- Language
- English
- Conflict of Interest
- In relation to this article, we declare that there is no conflict of interest.
- Publication history
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Received June 24, 2026
Accepted July 24, 2026
Available online November 25, 2026
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This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync/3.0) which permits
unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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Characterization, Biological Activities and Environmental Application of the Manilkara zapota Wrapped CaO-CuO Nanocomposite
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11814-026-00798-w
Abstract
Plant-based metal oxide nanoparticles have gained considerable interest in recent years due to their important biological
applications. The present study aimed to synthesize, characterize, and test the environmental applications of a Manilkara
zapota leaf-wrapped CaO–CuO nanocomposite. A phytochemical-rich extract was used as a reducing or stabilizing agent
during synthesis; therefore, the synthesis route was entirely eco-friendly. The fabrication and structural properties were
confirmed using UV-Vis spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Transmission
Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Atomic force microscopy (AFM). XRD analysis confirmed the crystalline structure,
and TEM revealed that the nanocomposite was nearly spherical, with an average size of 22.41 nm. Optical studies
showed a direct band gap energy of 3.32 eV, providing evidence of the semiconductor behavior of the nanocomposite.
The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities reached their maximum values at 250 µg/mL and 50 µg/mL, respectively,
indicating progressive free radical scavenging and anti-inflammatory potential. The inhibition zone diameter was
determined to be 13.51, 14.25, 14.31, and 16.8 mm for Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and
Staphylococcus aureus, respectively. P. aeruginosa exhibited maximum antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity at a nanocomposite
concentration of 100 µg/mL. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the nanocomposite was investigated,
achieving 81.14% Congo red dye decolorization under 80 min of sunlight irradiation. The reaction was followed by the
first-order kinetic model with a constant rate of 0.0219 min−1
. This study demonstrates that the green-synthesized CaO–
CuO nanocomposite holds significant promise as a sustainable, multi-target material for biomedical and environmental
remediation applications.

