Self-assembled cobalt hydroxide micro flowers from nanopetals: Structural, fractal analysis and molecular docking study

Abstract

A 2D structure of cobalt hydroxide was synthesized by the chemical bath deposition method on the glass substrate. The structure of thin-film was studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD) study. UV–vis. spectroscopy, Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopies were used for structural conformation. The morphological study of thin film has been characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Cobalt hydroxide thin film is deposited observed in the form of micro-flowers which are self-created by nanosheets like petals structure. The surface growth of thin film was studied with the help of AFM. Fractal analysis was carried based on AFM data. Fractal dimension and surface topographical properties have been calculated from statistical metric. Theoretically and experimentally observed bandgap is well agreed with each other. The possible formation mechanism of flower‐like cobalt hydroxide is discussed based on experimental results. Further molecular docking analysis of cobalt hydroxide with deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was predicated. The study shows that interaction between cobalt hydroxide-DNA is observed via the hydroxyl group.