Phytoextract mediated ZnO/MgO nanocomposites for photocatalytic and antibacterial activities

This paper discusses the investigation of pure MgO, ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) and ZnO/MgO nanocomposites (NCs) via plant based green assisted simple, fast, economical and environmental friendly method with the help of Ricinus communis L. plant seedless fruit extract (SFE). The green route synthesized NPs and NCs calcinated at the temperature of 450 degrees C were used for further optical studies with ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), structural studies by X-ray diffraction (XRD), functional analysis by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), microscopic determination by scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope (SEM, TEM), elemental composition analyzed by using Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Successfully synthesized and characterized NPs and NCs were, further, used for the antibacterial studies towards Escherichia coli (E.coli), Klebsiella bacteria(s) and photocatalytic activity towards methylene blue (MB). In comparison to the pure NPs and NCs, the ZnO/MgO-NCs (1:1) exhibited an enhanced antibacterial activity and resulted in 1.5-2.8 times and 1.27-3.5 times larger radius for zone of inhibition in case of E.coli and Klebsiella respectively, where as the value for photocatalytic apparent rate constant was found to be 1.49-5.25 times more.