Abstract
Various concentrations of Mg-doped ZnO nanorods (NRs) were prepared using co-precipitation technique. The objective of this study was to improve the photocatalytic properties of ZnO. The effect of Mg doping on the structure, phase constitution, functional groups presence, optical properties, elemental composition, surface morphology and microstructure of ZnO was evaluated with XRD, FTIR, UV–Vis spectrophotometer, EDS, and HR-TEM, respectively. Optical absorption spectra obtained from the prepared samples showed evidence of blueshift upon doping. XRD results revealed hexagonal wurtzite phase of nanocomposite with a gradual decrease in crystallite size with Mg addition. PL spectroscopy showed trapping efficiency and migration of charge carriers with electron–hole recombination behavior, while HR-TEM estimated interlayer d-spacing. The presence of chemical bonding, vibration modes and functional groups at the interface of ZnO was revealed by FTIR and Raman spectra. In this study, photocatalytic, sonocatalytic and sonophotocatalytic performance of prepared NRs was systematically investigated by degrading a mixture of methylene blue and ciprofloxacin (MBCF). Experimental results suggested that improved degradation performance was shown by Mg-doped ZnO NRs. We believe that the product synthesized in this study will prove to be a beneficial and promising photocatalyst for wastewater treatment. Conclusively, Mg-doped ZnO exhibited substantial (p < 0.05) efficacy against gram-negative (G-ve) as compared to gram-positive (G+ve) bacteria. In silico molecular docking studies of Mg-doped ZnO NRs against DHFR (binding score: − 7.518 kcal/mol), DHPS (binding score: − 6.973 kcal/mol) and FabH (− 6.548 kcal/mol) of E. coli predicted inhibition of given enzymes as possible mechanism behind their bactericidal activity.
Highlights
Organic pollutant effluents in water and infectious bacterial contaminants in food items are becoming leading challenges that need to be overcome in order to sustainIkram et al Nanoscale Res Lett (2021) 16:78Innumerable experimental studies have been carried out to develop physical, biological and chemical methods as well as new technologies for dyes removal from wastewater
Synthesis of Mg‐Doped Zinc Oxide (ZnO) Various concentrations of Mg-doped into a fixed amount of ZnO nanomaterials were synthesized with co-precipitation method. 0.5 M of Zn(NO3).4H2O solution was used as Zn precursor, and the desired amount (2, 4, 6 and 8 wt %) of dopant was added by pouring MgCl2 into the solution
Structural properties and phase constitution of dopantfree and doped ZnO were assessed by using x-ray diffraction (Fig. 2a)
Summary
Innumerable experimental studies have been carried out to develop physical, biological and chemical methods as well as new technologies for dyes removal from wastewater. Photocatalysis is an improved oxidation method, which involves charge carriers generation in semiconductor photocatalyst upon light irradiation. Several studies have shown that OH· radical species get accumulated on photocatalyst surface during photochemical reactions and lead to degradation of various organic dyes. Use of metal oxide NPs for the treatment of polluted water, due to their cost benefit, environmental friendliness, stability and recyclability, has attracted researchers’ interest [16, 17]. Broad bandgap inorganic semiconductors such as T iO2, WO3, ZrO2 and ZnO have proven to be successful in light-induced catalytic redox processes to degrade dye [18, 19]. Mg-doped ZnO can serve as an effective photocatalyst for dye degradation and encouraging antibacterial agent as a result of its broad optical band gap [23]
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