NiO nanodisks: Highly efficient visible-light driven photocatalyst, potential scaffold for seed germination of Vigna Radiata and antibacterial properties

Abstract

Abstract In the present study, we report the facile synthesis, detailed characterizations, photocatalytic, seed germination and antibacterial applications of NiO nanodisks. The nanodisks were fabricated by simple hydrothermal method and further characterized in detail which shows the well-crystalline cubic phase of NiO nanodisks with pure and large density growth. The crystal quality and purity of the NiO nanodisks were examined by calcining them at different temperatures (i.e 300 °C, 400 °C and 500 °C). NiO nanodisks with average size of 5.1 nm were obtained at 300 °C calcination, whereas, 6.8 nm and 12.7 nm sized NiO particles were obtained at 400 °C and 500 °C respectively. The synthesized nanodisks were used as proficient visible-light driven photocatalyst for the photocatalytic degradation of various harmful dyes. The detailed photocatalytic experiments revealed that under visible light irradiation methylene blue dye degraded up to 98.7% in just 20 min whereas the mixture of other dyes were degraded up to 94–97.6%. The prepared nanodisks have also demonstrated extremely high stability and recyclability (up to 4th cycle) for removing water contamination caused by different dyes and their mixtures. Additional, the NiO nanodisks were used as potential framework for the germination of Vigna Radiata seeds which exhibited very high (1500 ppm) antiproliferative activities with percentage inhibition growth values ranging from 12.6 to 46%. Finally, the antibacterial activities of NiO nanodisks were tested against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli.