Environmental Remediation of Real Textile Dyeing Wastewater Under Visible Light and Inactivation of Pathogenic Bacteria Using ZnO/CuO Nano‐Needles

Abstract

Textile industries have an immense existence in a country's economy. Large quantity of water is consumed by textile dyeing industries and produces volumes of wastewater. Treating these hazardous effluents to make them environmental friendly, using nanocatalysts is the best promising method. Metal oxide nanomaterials have emerged as an important tool for environmental remediation. Herein the hydrothermally synthesized ecofriendly and low‐cost zinc oxide/copper oxide nanocomposites (ZnO/CuO NCs) with different proportions of binary oxides are evaluated for the applications of degrading organic pollutants and antibacterial activity. The influence of doping is also studied in structural, optical, morphological, photocatalytic, and antibacterial activities. The presence of CuO in NCs affirms the formation of ZnO/CuO NCs. Photodegradation of Congo Red (CR) and real textile dyeing wastewater (TDW) under visible light irradiation by 0.5 M ZnO:0.5 M CuO NCs reveal them to act as a perfect catalyst by tuning doping concentration of Cu in ZnO, with 1.9 × 10−3 and 5.4 × 10−3 M min−1 rate constant. Hybrid nanocomposite materials exhibit high antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli with 5 and 6 mm inhibition zone. The experimental characteristics of NCs are explained by a combination of electronic band structure due to size effect and tuning metal oxide proportions in comparison to that of pure metal oxide.