Improved photocatalytic and antibacterial properties by hydrothermally fabricate CuWO4/PANI-Ppy nanocomposites

Abstract

One of the remaining obstacles to the sustainable approach is the development of outstanding economical, eco-friendly, and efficient materials for wastewater treatment. In this instance, we created a synthetic binary nano composite based on poly(aniline-co-pyrrole) (PANI-PPy) and copper tungstate (CuWO₄) for the purposes of antibacterial treatment and dye degradation. In the current work, composite formation was carried out to introduce different polymers onto the copper tungstate surface which was fabricated using conventional hydrothermal synthesis. The structure, morphology, and size of the pure copper tungstate and polymer composited with CuWO₄ were further examined by XRD, FTIR, FE-SEM, and HR-TEM. XRD results confirmed with JCPDS Card No 01-088-0269. FE-SEM and HR-TEM results revels that the synthesized CuWO₄ and polymer composite were in flower shape. The purpose of this binary-nanocomposites was to break down organic dyes like rhodamine B (RhB). Many aspects of the photocatalysis progression, including the rate of the reaction, the percentage of degradation, the scavenger test, and the effect of photodegradation on both pure and composite materials, were examined. Under visible light at room temperature, the pure copper tungstate and composite were able to eliminate 97 % and 96 % of the RhB dye solution in 80 and 40 min respectively. The antibacterial properties of bimetallic oxides on bacteria were studied. With Mueller-Hinton broth, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus are used in this work to test the antibacterial activity of copper tungstate and its polymer composite. Maximum Zone of inhibition was found against Ecoli (15 mm) and S. aureus (20 mm) at the concentration of 100 µg/ml. Cytotoxicity of the nanocomposites towards Normal Human Dermal Fibroblasts (NHDF) to assess its potential biocompatibility.