Preparation, antibacterial activity, and electrocatalytic detection of hydrazine based on biogenic CuFeO2/PANI nanocomposites synthesized using Aloe barbadensis miller

Abstract

This work focuses on the biogenic synthesis of CuFeO₂ nanocomposites (B-CuFeO₂ NCs) and B-CuFeO₂/polyaniline (PANI) NCs synthesized using Aloe barbadensis miller gel extracts for demonstrating their antibacterial activity and utility as electrochemical sensors for the quantification of hydrazine for agricultural applications. Hydrazine retention in plants can build up throughout the food chain, posing a hazard to animal and possibly human health; it can also inhibit seed germination and causes leaf wilting in several agricultural plants. Consequently, it is essential to study hydrazine absorption and dispersion in plants. Thus, in this study the optical, structural, and morphological characteristics of the as-prepared nanocomposites were investigated by utilizing UV-visible, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). Then, the biologically synthesized NCs were deposited onto glass substrates (indium-tin-oxide) to perform electro-oxidation studies of hydrazine utilizing differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). Hence, from the study findings, it is evident that the B-CuFeO₂/PANI NC modified electrode has an extremely high sensitivity of 47.36 μA mM⁻¹ cm⁻² for hydrazine and a lower detection limit of 0.0313 mM under optimized experimental conditions, and the as-prepared NCs also demonstrated efficient antibacterial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.