Facile synthesis of nickel doped ZnO and CeO2 nanocomposite for efficient photocatalytic dye degradation, catalytic reduction and antimicrobial studies

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The current research work reports on binary Nickel oxide-Zinc oxide (NiO-ZnO) and Nickel oxide-Cerium oxide (NiO-CeO2) nanocomposites synthesis by facile single step in-situ thermal decomposition method and its applications. The structural and morphological studies were examined using various characterization techniques like IR, UV-DRS, XRD and SEM with EDAX studies. The IR bands at 545-533 cm−1 corresponds to M-O stretching vibration. The XRD studies confirms the structural pattern of NiO-ZnO and NiO-CeO2 nanocomposites. SEM with EDAX results reveal the structure, composition and purity of synthesized nanocomposites. The nanocomposites were employed as photocatalyst for degradation of methylene blue and methyl orange dyes and as a catalyst toward 4-nitrophenol reduction. Antibacterial studies against E. coli (Gram-negative) and S. aureus (Gram-positive) bacterial pathogens were carried out using the nanocomposites. The outcomes show 97% efficiency in forty minutes for catalysis and 120 min for dye degradation and a better zone of inhibition in antibacterial studies for NiO-ZnO nanocomposite. The comparative result for both the nanocomposites discloses that the photocatalytic degradation, catalytic and antimicrobial efficiency of NiO-ZnO nanocomposite is more efficient than NiO-CeO2 nanocomposite. The results reveal the outstanding catalytic and dye degradation and antibacterial activity of NiO-ZnO than NiO-CeO2.