Improved catalytic and bactericidal behavior with in silico molecular docking analysis of barium/chitosan doped tungstate oxide nanoplates

Abstract

In this paper, hydrothermally prepared doping-dependent (barium-Ba and chitosan-CS) properties of WO3 nanocomposite were examined. Various concentrations of Ba (3, 6, and 9 wt.%) were systematically added into the binary system (CS-WO3) nanocomposite. Numerous intrinsic disadvantages of nanoplates as lower surface-to-volume ratio and rapid recombination rate significantly reduced the WO3 activities. To address these issues, Ba/CS was introduced as a dopant; CS encapsulates the WO3, which controls particle size and rapidly overcomes the recombination rate issues, resulting in improved catalytic and antimicrobial activity. The catalytic activity of WO3 and doped WO3 degraded the MB dye by 99.9% in the presence of a reducing agent (NaBH4) in acidic and neutral media. The zone of inhibition was determined (using a Vernier Caliper) against Escherichia coli (E. coli) pathogens at low and high dosages to test antimicrobial activity of synthesized nanostructures. These Ba/CS-doped WO3 nanoparticles have been proposed as putative inhibitors of the DNA gyrase and reeducate of the protein enoyl-acyl carrier (FabI) of E. coli by in silico docking investigation.