Magnetite based nanocomposite (Fe3O4@SGO): Photocatalytic and biological evaluation

Abstract

Metal nanoparticle and sulfonated graphene oxide (SGO) nanocomposites have garnered growing consideration due to their varied range of possible applications in several arenas of materials science. This research study is focused around the utilization of the co-precipitation technique to successfully synthesize a highly efficient photocatalyst based on Fe₃O₄@SGO nanocomposite. To characterize the synthesized nanocomposite numerous methods like XRD, TGA, EDX, SEM, TEM as well as FT-IR were employed. The average nanoparticle size of FSGO is approximately 8.2 nm. The bandgap energy of the FSGO nanocomposite was determined to be 2.3 eV in the present study. UV–Vis data revealed that low band gap of the fabricated FSGO nanocomposite enhances photocatalytic dye breakdown efficiency by incorporating metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) into the high specific surface area of SGO. This integration promotes effective charge transfer amongst the metal oxides as well as organic molecules, thereby improving overall performance. The developed nanocomposite demonstrates special properties including a significantly great stability, high surface area as well as competent recoverability. To assess the photocatalytic abilities of the produced nanocomposite, Rose Bengal (RB) dye was employed as a model water pollutant. The photocatalytic data exhibited a remarkable degradation rate with approximately 95 % degradation achieved within just 90 min. The reaction kinetics observed adhered to a pseudo-first-order model with a rate constant of 0.0326 min⁻¹. The nanocomposite demonstrates good MIC (Minimum inhibitory concentration) values against S. aureus at 50 (μg/mL) compared to the reference drugs (Chloramphenicol and Ciprofloxacin). Additionally, the antifungal assay data shows a favourable MIC value at 500 (μg/mL) against C. albicans when compared to the reference drug (Greseofulvin).