Exploring the Structural, Spectroscopic, Antibacterial, and Electrochemical Characteristics of Silver-Doped Cadmium Oxide Nanoparticles

In the present study, cadmium oxide and silver-added cadmium oxide (CdO and Ag‒CdO) nanoparticles were synthesized via the co-precipitation technique. X-ray diffraction demonstrated that the CdO and Ag-CdO NPs crystallized into the cubic structure. The average grain sizes of the CdO and Ag–CdO NPs were evaluated to be 54 and 63 nm. The lattice strains for the CdO and Ag-CdO nanoparticles were estimated to be 0.0148 and 0.0151, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy was employed to inspect the sample surface textures and particle morphology. Using dynamic light scattering studies, the polydispersity indexes (PI) of the CdO and Ag–CdO NPs were determined to be 0.357 and 0.356, and the diffusion constants were obtained to be 3.761 × 10⁻⁸ cm²/s and 3.903 × 10⁻⁸ cm²/s, respectively. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy was used to identify the vibrational modes and functional groups. The photoluminescence spectra show a prominent emission peak at 608 nm. The cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were employed to explore the electrochemical nature and the capacitive properties of the CdO and Ag-CdO NPs. Micrococcus luteus and Escherichia coli were used to investigate the samples’ antibacterial effectiveness. The Ag–CdO NPs were shown to have strong antibacterial activity. The experimental study reveals that CdO and Ag-CdO NPs are suitable for display systems, electrode materials, and antibacterial uses.