Facile Synthesis of ZnO/AC Nanocomposites using Prosopis Juliflora for Enhanced Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue and Antibacterial Activity

A facile synthesis of ZnO/activated carbon (ZnO/AC) nanocomposites has been made using the stem of Prosopis Juliflora by one-pot synthetic method. These composite materials have been characterized by various techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transforminfrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and Photoluminescence (PL) respectively. The morphology of ZnO nanocrystal exhibits flower like architecture with controlled size and shape. The photocatalytic performance of ZnO/ AC has been analyzed with different proportions (1%, 3%, 5%) on methylene blue (MB) dye under ultraviolet radiation. The photocatalytic activity is greatly influenced by band gap, crystal size and surface oxygen vacancies (SOv) of the nanocomposites. The rate of photodegradation is 92.2 % at 45 min for 3% carbon in ZnO/AC material and it is 10% higher than that of pristine ZnO. Moreover, the photo degradation of MB has been investigated with various pH like 2.5, 3.5, 7, 8.5, 9.5 and the adsorption efficiency of ZnO based on surface zero point charge in acidic and basic medium has been discussed. Additionally, the antibacterial activity of the ZnO/AC nano-composites has been carried out against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the result shows improved antibacterial activity with the increase in carbon percentage.