Bactericidal Properties of Copper-Tin Nanoparticles on Escherichia coli in a Liquid Environment

Abstract

In this research, copper-tin alloy nanoparticles were made by a mechanical alloying method and were examined by two well-known and common bactericidal tests, optical density, and colony-forming units count in terms of bactericidal properties. To confirm the results, two different percentages were used as Sn-50Cu and Sn-83Cu, and standard amounts of these alloys were added to the Escherichia coli bacterial culture medium. The results of optical density show that with the addition of more values to the culture medium for bacteria, witnessing the destruction of bacteria, and also the results of colony counting tests can be seen that the number of colonies has decreased over time, even close to zero, which means the environment is free of bacteria. These standard values were different for both alloys; for the Sn-50Cu alloy, the maximum value was 4.5 mg, and for the Sn-83Cu alloy, it was 2.75 mg, which did not make any difference with the addition of these nanoparticles to the bacterial culture medium.