Effect of Hybrid mono/bimetallic Nanocomposites for an enhancement of Catalytic and Antimicrobial Activities

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 10; no. 1; p. 2586
• Main Authors: Sivaranjan, Kuppan, Padmaraj, Osaimany, Santhanalakshmi, Jayadevan, Sathuvan, Malairaj, Sathiyaseelan, Anbazhagan, Sagadevan, Suresh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 13.02.2020; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 140/133; 140/146; 631/45/603; 639/925/918/1055; Aniline Compounds - chemistry; Aniline Compounds - pharmacology; Antimicrobial agents; Bacteria - drug effects; Catalysis; Catalysts; Chemical reduction; Coloring Agents - isolation & purification; Electrostatic properties; Environmental Pollutants - isolation & purification; Food industry; Fungi - drug effects; Gold - chemistry; Gold - pharmacology; Graphite - chemistry; Graphite - pharmacology; Heavy metals; Humanities and Social Sciences; Metal ions; multidisciplinary; Nanocomposites; Nanocomposites - chemistry; Nanocomposites - ultrastructure; Nitro Compounds - isolation & purification; Oxidation-Reduction; Palladium - chemistry; Palladium - pharmacology; Petrochemicals; Pollutants; Raman spectroscopy; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Synergistic effect; Wastewater
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-59491-5

Exploring the new catalytic systems for the reduction of organic and inorganic pollutants from an indispensable process in chemical, petrochemical, pharmaceutical and food industries, etc. Hence, in the present work, authors motivated to synthesize bare reduced graphene oxide (rGO), polyaniline (PANI), three different ratios of rGO-PANI (80:20, 50:50, 10:90) composites and rGO-PANI (80:20, 50:50, 10:90) supported mono (Pd) & bimetallic [Pd: Au (1:1, 1:2, 2:1) ] nanocomposite by a facile chemical reduction method. Also, it investigated their catalytic performances for the reduction of organic/inorganic pollutants and antimicrobial activities. All the freshly prepared bare rGO, PANI, three different ratios of rGO-PANI (80:20, 50:50, 10:90) composites and rGO-PANI (80:20, 50:50, 10:90) /Pd & Pd: Au (1:1, 1:2, 2:1) nanocomposite hybrid catalysts were characterized using UV-Vis, FT-IR, SEM, FE-SEM, EDAX, HR-TEM, XRD, XPS and Raman spectroscopy analysis. Among them, an optimized best composition of rGO-PANI (80:20) /Pd: Au (1:1) bimetallic nanocomposite hybrid catalyst exhibits better catalytic reduction and antimicrobial activities than other composites, as a result of strong electrostatic interactions between rGO, PANI and bimetal (Pd: Au) NPs through a synergistic effect. Hence, an optimized rGO-PANI (80:20) /Pd:Au (1:1) bimetallic nanocomposite catalyst would be considered as a suitable catalyst for the reduction of different nitroarenes, organic dyes, heavy metal ions and also significantly inhibit the growth of S. aureus, S. Typhi as well as Candida albicans and Candida kruesi in wastewater.