Sol-gel mediated P3TA/Ni doped TiO2 nano-hybrid for enhanced visible light photocatalytic degradation of Indigo caramine dye pollutant and antibacterial performance

Abstract

Indigo carmine has been applied for medical diagnostics also being a textile colouring agent, a component in pharmaceutical tablets and capsules, and a flavouring agent for confectionary foods. Indigo carmine is regarded as a constituent of the highly poisonous indigoid dye family. In addition to microbiological and enzymatic methods for removing organic pollutants from contaminated water, photo catalysis using semiconductors is one of the most important elements of advanced oxidation processes. In that sense, poly-3-thenoicacid/Ni-TiO2 nanohybrids were prepared using a modified sol–gel and characterized by using analytical instruments. The results were found that TiO2 nanoparticles aggregate into large sizes with rough surfaces and irregular shapes due to their high surface energy. As-characterized nanohybrid was examined for the photocatalytic degradation of model dye pollutant caramine indigo and completely decolourised in 90 min at optimized pH-2, 0.15 mg catalyst dose and 10 mg/L dye concentration. Tested nanohybrid (P3TA/Ni-TiO2) showed antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli at a dosage of 800 mg/L. The test compounds' antibacterial activity is at its lowest at a 400 mg/L concentration, with zones of inhibition for Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus measuring 1.9 and 2.0 mm, respectively. The present study contributes to the science in the field of nano photo catalysis with cost-effectiveness and multi-functionality material.