Facile microwave-assisted synthesis of metal oxide CdO-CuO nanocomposite: Photocatalytic and antimicrobial enhancing properties

Abstract

CdO-CuO nanocomposite was synthesized by a microwave-assisted process and examined by employing different spectroscopic methods. The cubic and monoclinic crystal structure of CdO and CuO, respectively, with crystallite size around 25 nm and spherical shape were confirmed by XRD and SEM with EDAX analysis. The FTIR spectrum revealed characteristic vibration frequencies at 505 and 620 cm?1 assigned to Cu-O and Cd-O stretching vibrations, respectively. The optical bandgap of CdO-CuO nanocomposite is 2.4 eV by UV?vis spectroscopy. The photoluminescence spectrum of the nanocomposite excited at 290 nm at room temperature indicated strong emission bands at 358, 426, 485 and 526 nm due to the near band edge emission (NBE) of CuO and CdO, the existence of defects, oxygen vacancies, respectively. By using CdO-CuO photocatalyst, the degradation percentage of the Rose Bengal dye solution reached 97 in 120 min under ordinary solar light irradiation. Moreover, the antimicrobial activity of the CdO-CuO nanocomposite checked alongside human pathogens (S. aureus and S. typhi) and displayed higher antimicrobial performance against S. aureus at a concentration equal to 100 ?g/mL. ? 2020 Elsevier GmbH