Exploring the potential of [F. oxysporum/PSCO11Cu7]BNC as a novel copper-Fusarium oxysporum bio-hybrid nanocomposite for wastewater treatment

Abstract

The rapid expansion of both the global economy and the human population has led to a shortage of water resources suitable for direct human consumption. As a result, wastewater treatment will inexorably become the primary focus on a global scale. This study might be the first to explore a novel copper-Fusarium oxysporum bio-hybrid nanocomposite [F. oxysporum/PSCO11Cu7]BNC for wastewater treatment that is capable of concurrently removing heavy metals and some microbial pathogens. The crystal structure of [F. oxysporum/PSCO11Cu7]BNC is a Monoclinic 2 with a space group P21/C and an average crystallite size of 35.9 nm. The simulated XRD of [F. oxysporum/PSCO11Cu7]BNC provides a Monoclinic P121/c1(14) structure. TEM results showed that the prepared [F. oxysporum/PSCO11Cu7]BNC powder is in the form of nanoparticles of varying sizes ranging from 22 to 42.07 nm. The direct energy gap for [F. oxysporum/PSCO11Cu7]BNC calculated using density functional theory is 1.476 eV. Exploring the antimicrobial activity of [F. oxysporum/PSCO11Cu7]BNC against different bacterial and fungal species showed the potential of this novel nanocomposite as an antimicrobial agent. Applying this biosynthesized compound for the treatment of Kitchener drainage revealed the promising effect of [F. oxysporum/PSCO11Cu7]BNC in reducing the total count of bacteria and fungi by 90.087 and 100%, respectively, as compared with the controls (54.8% in the case of amoxicillin and 98.57% in the case of nystatin). The efficiency of [F. oxysporum/PSCO11Cu7]BNC as a novel biosorbent has been investigated, and the results showed its capability of treating wastewater since Pb (68.17%), Cr (52.4%), Zn (30.7%), Cd (29.01), and Ni (10.57%) were removed. The findings in this study thus open up the new prospect of the utilization of [F. oxysporum/PSCO11Cu7]BNC as a novel bio-hybrid nanocomposite in wastewater bioremediation and biomedical applications.