Plant Mediated Green Synthesis of CuO Nanoparticles: Comparison of Toxicity of Engineered and Plant Mediated CuO Nanoparticles towards Daphnia magna

Research on green production methods for metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) is growing, with the objective to overcome the potential hazards of these chemicals for a safer environment. In this study, facile, ecofriendly synthesis of copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles was successfully achieved using aqueous extract of Pterospermum acerifolium leaves. P. acerifolium-fabricated CuO nanoparticles were further characterized by UV-Visible spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and dynamic light scattering (DLS). Plant-mediated CuO nanoparticles were found to be oval shaped and well dispersed in suspension. XPS confirmed the elemental composition of P. acerifolium-mediated copper nanoparticles as comprised purely of copper and oxygen. DLS measurements and ion release profile showed that P. acerifolium-mediated copper nanoparticles were more stable than the engineered CuO NPs. Copper oxide nanoparticles are used in many applications; therefore, their potential toxicity cannot be ignored. A comparative study was performed to investigate the bio-toxic impacts of plant-synthesized and engineered CuO nanoparticles on water flea Daphnia. Experiments were conducted to investigate the 48-h acute toxicity of engineered CuO NPs and plant-synthesized nanoparticles. Lower EC50 value 0.102 ± 0.019 mg/L was observed for engineered CuO NPs, while 0.69 ± 0.226 mg/L was observed for plant-synthesized CuO NPs. Additionally, ion release from CuO nanoparticles and 48-h accumulation of these nano CuOs in daphnids were also calculated. Our findings thus suggest that the contribution of released ions from nanoparticles and particles/ions accumulation in Daphnia needs to be interpreted with care.