Effective catalytic and antimicrobial performance of multiple phase AgBr and polyacrylic acid doped nickel oxide nanostructures with In Silico molecular docking study

Abstract

A facile co-precipitation route was adopted to synthesize NiO2 nanostructures (NSs) doped with various weight ratios (2 and 4 wt.%) of AgBr and a fixed amount of PAA. This study aimed to investigate the RhB degradation on multiple media with the antimicrobial activity of pristine and doped NiO2. The morphological, structural, elemental, and optical characterizations of prepared samples were examined. X-ray diffraction spectra (XRD) exhibited the hexagonal structure of NiO2 and confirmed the crystalline nature of the synthesized sample. The TEM images affirmed the nanoparticle and nanorod-like morphology. The UV–Vis analysis revealed that the absorption performance of synthesized samples is comprehensive in the ultraviolet region (277 nm) and band gap energy (Eg) decreased upon doping (4.1–3.36 eV). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) has stretching and vibrational modes of Ni–O and other functional groups. NiO2 has a large band gap with a high charge recombination rate issue. The supreme performance of NiO2 can be credited to PAA and AgBr, which hinder the e−/h+ recombination process by charge separation. The catalytic activity of AgBr/PAA doped NiO2 demonstrates remarkable performance against RhB and benzoic acid, with maximum degradation in acidic medium and exhibited higher antimicrobial efficacy for Escherichia coli. Docking studies were employed to decipher the mechanism underlying the bactericidal activity of AgBr/PAA-doped NiO2 NSs and PAA-doped NiO2 NSs for β-lactamase and DNA gyrase inhibition.