Synthesis and characterization of Cu-rGO/ZnO nanocomposite for photocatalytic degradation of bromophenol blue and antibacterial activity

Herein, Cu-rGO/ZnO ternary nanocomposite powder was synthesised by hydrothermal method. Analytical techniques such as XRD, FTIR, UV-Vis, SEM-EDAX, BET and XPS were used to study the morphology and structural properties of obtained nanocomposite. The photocatalytic activity of prepared nanocomposite was assessed by degradation of bromophenol blue in aqueous media. The catalytic results demonstrated that photocatalyst (0.1g) exhibited 86.2% bromophenol blue dye degradation efficiency with kinetic rate constant of 3.401x10− 2 min− 1. Antibacterial activity of nanocomposite was evaluated using agar well diffusion technique. The experimental results revealed that Cu-rGO/ZnO exhibited significant antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecium and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.