Semnan University Press Progress in Physics of Applied Materials 2783-4794 5 1 2025 05 01 Comparative Study of Cu and Fe-Doped ZnO Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Characterization, and Multifaceted Bioactivities 75 84 9585 10.22075/ppam.2025.36408.1127 EN Masome Naseri Tekyeh Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Malayer University, Malayer, Iran 0000-0002-2088-7222 Dariush Mehrparvar Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Malayer University, Malayer, Iran Rostam Moradian Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran 0000-0003-2685-7144 Shahriar Mahdavi Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Malayer University, Malayer, Iran Maryam Rahimi Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Malayer University, Malayer, Iran Mohammad Shahpouri Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Malayer University, Malayer, Iran Journal Article 2025 01 07 Metal oxide nanoparticles display significant roles in antimicrobial and anticancer activities. In the present study, Cu, and Fe-doped ZnO nanoparticles have been synthesized and investigated for their antioxidant, antibacterial, and anticancer properties. The above-mentioned nanoparticles have been synthesized by the low-cost and simple sol-gel method. The 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay was conducted to assess the antioxidant activity. The antibacterial activity of NPs was tested against E. coli and S. aureus bacteria according to the broth microdilution method in Mueller Hinton Broth. The anticancer potency on cancerous AsPC-1 cell lines was examined. The structural and morphology of samples confirm that all NPs formed with different crystallite sizes in the hexagonal wurtzite system. The DPPH assay showed the Zn<sub>1-X</sub>Cu<sub>X</sub>O to have more antioxidant properties than other samples. We observed that the S. aureus bacterium is more sensitive to NPs than the E. coli bacterium. The strongest and weakest substances used for these bacteria are Zn<sub>1-X</sub>Cu<sub>X</sub>O and Zn<sub>1-X</sub>Fe<sub>X</sub>O NPs, respectively. Our anticancer results showed that the loaded drug on the NPs surfaces has more anticancer properties than pure drugs. ZnO and Zn<sub>1-X</sub>Fe<sub>X</sub>O NPs possess similar anticancer properties approximately, while sunitinib@Zn<sub>1-X</sub>Cu<sub>X</sub>O eliminates 92% of cancer cells at 200 μg/ml concentration. We observed that ZnO, Zn<sub>1-X</sub>Fe<sub>X</sub>O, and Zn<sub>1-X</sub>Cu<sub>X</sub>O NPs have antioxidant, antibacterial, and anticancer properties. Adding copper dopant to ZnO NP significantly increases its anticancer property. ZnO NPs Sol-Gel Method Anticancer antibacterial Antioxidant https://ppam.semnan.ac.ir/article_9585_da52dbdb51e5c9b3fcacdc228065d5e0.pdf