Improved photocatalytic performance of chitosan blended – Al2O3-TiO2 and garlic loaded – Al2O3-TiO2 hybrid nanocomposites

Abstract

In this present study, biomaterials loaded/blended hybrid nanocomposites such as chitosan-blended Al2O3-TiO2 (CS-Al2O3-TiO2) and garlic-loaded Al2O3-TiO2 (G-Al2O3-TiO2) were synthesized by sol-gel method. They were characterized by various techniques such as XRD, UV-DRS, FTIR, FE-SEM, EDX and TG-DTA analysis. The photocatalytic activity of the CS-Al2O3-TiO2 and G-Al2O3-TiO2 was carried out using organic dyes such as Methylene blue (MB), Methyl orange (MO) and Rhodium B (Rh-B) under solar light. The antibacterial activity was done using the gram-negative bacteria Escherichia Coli (E. Coli). The comparison studies of photocatalytic and antibacterial activity between all the nanocomposites, such as TiO2, Al2O3-TiO2, CS-Al2O3-TiO2 and G-Al2O3-TiO2 were investigated. The order of photocatalytic and antibacterial activity was G-Al2O3-TiO2 > CS-Al2O3-TiO2 > Al2O3-TiO2> TiO2. The garlic loaded Al2O3-TiO2 nanocomposite shows a higher activity due to the presence of organic sulphur compounds. Followed by chitosan blended - Al2O3-TiO2 shows a remarkable activity due to the presence of an amine group present in chitosan composites.