SnO2nanorods/graphene nanoplatelets nanocomposites: towards fast removal of malachite green and pathogen control.
Aqsa ArshadTahira Qamar NisarMuhammad ZulqurnainRobina Khan NiaziQaisar MansoorPublished in: Nanotechnology (2021)
The world is facing alarming challenges of environmental pollution due to uncontrolled water contamination and multiple drug resistance of pathogens. In this work, SnO2nanorods and SnO2/GNPs nanocomposites have been prepared. The length and diameter of nanorods are ca. 25±6 nm and 4±2 nm respectively. The optical bandgap energies change from 3.14 eV to 2.80 eV in SnO2and SnO2/GNPs nanocomposite (GS-I and GS-II). SnO2nanorods and multifunctional SnO2/GNPs nanocomposites have been tested as photocatalysts and nano-antibiotics. SnO2/GNPs nanocomposite (GS-II) completely removes (99.11%) malachite green in 12 min, under UV light exposure, which has been removed only 37% by neat SnO2nanorods in the same time. In visible light, GS-II removes 99.01% malachite green in 15 min, while SnO2removes the same only upto 24.7% in the same time. In addition, GS-II nanocomposite inhibits 79.57% and 78.51% growth of P. aeruginosa and S. aureus respectively. A synchronized contribution of SnO2and GNPs makes SnO2/GNPs nanocomposites (GS-II) an innovative multifunctional material for simultaneous fast and complete removal of malachite green and inhibition of drug resistant pathogens.