https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/s10051-025-01026-w
Research – Mesoscopic and Nanoscale Systems
Effect of bee-pollen extract on the green synthesis of CuO nanoparticles
1
Laboratory for Studies of Surfaces and Interfaces of Solid Materials (LESIMS), Ferhat ABBAS University Setif 1, Setif, Algeria
2
Department of Basic Education in Technology, Ferhat ABBAS University Setif 1, Setif, Algeria
3
Laboratory of Growth and Characterization of New Semiconductors (LCCNS), Ferhat ABBAS University Setif 1, Setif, Algeria
4
Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, Ferhat ABBAS University Setif 1, Setif, Algeria
5
Laboratory of Materials Physics and its Applications, University of M’sila, 28000, M’sila, Algeria
6
Research Center in Semiconductors Technology for Energetics (CRTSE), Algiers, Algeria
a
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b
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Received:
29
March
2025
Accepted:
15
August
2025
Published online:
5
September
2025
The environmentally friendly synthesis of cupric oxide nanoparticles using biological approaches has shown great promise as an alternative to expensive and user-unfriendly conventional methods. In this study, bee pollen extract was used for the first time as a simple and economical method for the biosynthesis of CuO nanoparticles at room temperature without the adding of harmful chemical solvents. The effect of the amount of BP on the structural, optical, and morphological properties of CuO nanoparticles was examined using different analytical methods. According to the XRD results, CuO nanoparticles prepared with the lowest amount of BP exhibited the smallest average size (19.57 nm), maximum dislocation and micro strain density, and a high degree of crystallinity. FTIR results confirmed that the Cu–O bond was formed by the possible functional groups of the biomolecules present in the bee pollen extract. UV and visible emission peaks were observed in the PL spectra, demonstrating the good optical properties of the BP products. It was found that the optical energy band gap decreased from 1.485 eV to 1.408 eV as the amount of BP increased. Moreover, the amount of BP significantly influenced the morphological properties of the CuO nanoparticles. At low amounts, spherical and pseudo-spherical shapes of CuO nanoparticles were observed, while at higher amounts, strong aggregation/agglomeration of these nanoparticles was observed. The purity of the as-synthesized CuO nanoparticles was assessed by EDX characterization.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to EDP Sciences, SIF and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
