Green synthesis of recyclable reduced graphene oxide-gold nanocatalyst using Alstonia scholaris: Applications in waste water purification and microbial field

Abstract

The green synthetic approaches are the alternative methods for the preparation of various types of nanoparticles to keep sustainable evolution. A novel green synthesis of gold- reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites was conducted through simple heating method using Alstonia scholaris (A. scholaris) bark extract. There are several techniques that confirm the formation of the nanocomposites for synthesis of gold nanoparticles on reduced graphene oxide (RGO), such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV–visible spectroscopy (UV–vis) and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The size distributions of the gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) grown on RGO surface was measured using two different methods: particle distribution study and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image. These two methods provided similar size distribution which is around 5–8 nm. Subsequently, the catalytic performance was evaluated by 4-nitro aniline (4-NA). The photocatalytic activities were investigated using different organic hazardous dyes, such as methylene blue (MB), methyl orange (MO) and the change of photocatalytic behaviour was shown by varying the catalyst amount and pH. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) analyses for complete removal of organic dye were carried out using the two nanocomposite samples. To perceive the effect on different bacterial strains, antibacterial and antiprotozoal studies have been carried out with this nanocomposite.