Environmental problems such as organic pollutants and toxic water pollutants produced by some industries are harmful to human health. Semiconductor-assisted photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants has attracted considerable attention because it shows promise for solving environmental pollution problems. In addition, the emergence and increase of microbial organisms which can cause severe infections and have developed unmatched resistance to drugs, result in a number of deaths caused by multi drug resistant (MDR) bacteria in developed economies every year. Therefore, new strategies are needed to design antibacterial agents. Among various oxide semiconductor photocatalysts, α-Fe2O3 has been recognized as excellent material for visible light photocatalytysis and antibacterial agent due to high photosensitivity, nontoxic nature and low cost. Graphene surface has been of significant interest as a means of tuning the properties of the nanosheets for enhanced performance in various applications. In this work, α-Fe2O3/ RGO nanocomposites with tunable size and shape were prepared by microwave irradiation based solution method. The as-grown nanostructures were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman and ultra violet- visible (UV-Vis) measurements. XRD showed that the nanostructures were highly pure and well crystallized. FESEM and TEM images confirmed the nanometer size range of nanostructures. The photodegradation of methyl orange (MO) using α-Fe2O3/RGO nanocomposites was measured under visible light irradiation and observed that α-Fe2O3 showed higher activity than commercial α-Fe2O3. Antibacterial activity of α-Fe2O3/RGO nanocomposites as a function of concentration against gram-negative bacterium <i>Escherichia coli</i> (<i>E. coli</i>) was carried out in solid growth media. Nanocomposites showed better antibacterial activity than that of other antibacterial agents.

Enhanced visible light driven photocatalytic degradation of organic dyes and antibacterial properties of iron oxide/RGO nanocomposites

249th National Meeting (2015)

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