Photocatalytic dye degradation and biological activities of the Fe2O3/Cu2O nanocomposite

Abstract

The present study reports the synthesis of the Fe₂O₃/Cu₂O nanocomposite via a facile hydrothermal route. The products were characterized using X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), dynamic light scattering (DLS), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) techniques. The composition, morphology and structural features of the nanoparticles were found to be size-dependent due to the temperature response in the particular time log during hydrothermal synthesis. HR-TEM confirmed the formation of hexagonal rod-shaped bare Cu₂O, rhombohedral-shaped Fe₂O₃ and composite assembly. Rhodamine-B (RB) and Janus green (JG) were chosen as model dyes for the degradation studies. Photocatalytic degradation of the dyes was deliberated by altering the catalyst and dye concentrations. The results showed that the Rhodamine-B (RB) and Janus green (JG) dyes were degraded within a short time span. The synthesized materials were found to be highly stable in the visible light-driven degradation of the dyes; showed antibacterial activity against E. coli, P. aeruginosa, Staph. aureus and B. subtilis; and exhibited less toxicity against the Musmusculus skin melanoma cells (B16-F10). The fusion of these advantages paves the way for further applications in energy conversion, biological applications as well as in environmental remediation.