Tungsten oxide-graphene oxide (WO3-GO) nanocomposite as an efficient photocatalyst, antibacterial and anticancer agent

Functioning of ultrasonically prepared tungsten oxide-graphene oxide (WO3-GO) nanocomposite as a photo catalyst, antibacterial and anticancer system was investigated and the obtained results were compared with that of pure WO3 nanoparticles. Structural, morphological, compositional and optical properties of the prepared WO3 nanoparticles and WO3-GO nanocomposite were studied. Photocatalytic efficiency of the system on organic dyes such as methylene blue (MB, cationic) and indigo carmine (IC, anionic) was investigated. The enhanced efficiency of the WO3-GO nanocomposite system was evaluated under sunlight and compared with that of pure WO3. The degradation efficiency values for MB and IC were found to be 97.03% and 95.43% at 180 and 120 min respectively. Antibacterial activity of the WO3-GO nanocomposite under visible light was tested and improved inhibition results were observed for Escherichia coil and Bacillus subtilis after 6 h of light exposure. The photocatalytic degradation efficiency and antibacterial activity of the WO3-GO nanocomposite are attributed to the improved electron-hole pair separation rate. Investigation on anticancer activity of WO3-GO nanocomposite was tested on human lung cancer (A-549) cell line and the IC50 value was found to be 139.6 +/- 4.53 mu g/mL. The results obtained in this study may be used as a platform for the development of photocatalysis applications based on WO3-GO nanocomposite.