Development of novel Nd2WO6/ZnO incorporated on GO nanocomposite for the photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants and biological studies

Abstract

In this work, the Nd2WO6/ZnO–GO (NWZG) nanocomposite were prepared by simple hydrothermal route. The crystalline structure, morphology and elemental composition of the as prepared NWZG nanocomposite were characterized by numerous spectroscopic techniques. For the first time, Nd2WO6/ZnO–GO was utilized as a photocatalyst for the degradation of ciprofloxacin (CIP) antibiotic drug and methylene blue (MB) dye solution under UV light irradiation. Interestingly, NWZG nanocomposite exhibited enhanced photocatalytic performance could degrade above 96% and 98% of CIP and MB solution, respectively. The radical trapping experiment results revealed that the O 2 radicals are the major active species. Furthermore, NWZG nanocomposite demonstrated extraordinary chemical stability and reusability even after five repeated cycles. Besides, NWZG nanocomposite portrayed significant antibacterial properties against both Gram-positive (Bacillus cereus) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) bacterial strains. Moreover, AC impedance spectroscopy studies showed that NWZG nanocomposite have the superior electrical conductivity and dielectric behaviour when compared to pristine one.