Abstract
Chitosan-based composites with considerable interest have great significance in photocatalytic and antibacterial applications. Chitosan itself is a special accepted adsorbent for the removal of organic pollutants due to presence of energetic amino and hydroxyl groups. The positive charge of amino group interacts electrostatically with surface of shell membrane to block enzyme actions. In this regard, we have synthesized chitosan supported nickel oxide/zinc oxide composite (Chitosan-NiO/ZnO) via alcohothermal process. The X-ray diffraction pattern confirmed the NiO/ZnO composite which contained cubical NiO and hexagonal ZnO structure. FTIR spectrum demonstrated the presence of vibrational mode of Zn-O and Ni-O in the composite. The UV-vis spectroscopy showed the reduction in optical band gap of Chitosan-NiO/ZnO composite from 2.70 to 2.32 eV as compared to NiO/ZnO. Moreover, Chitosan-NiO/ZnO composite showed 91.8% degradation of methyl blue (MB) dye in 70 min whereas NiO/ZnO showed 90.8% in 100 min. This improvement in photocatalytic behavior is mainly credited to porous structure of Chitosan-NiO/ZnO which helped to provide large surface area and more active sites. Furthermore, addition of chitosan also provided solid support on the surface of composite to enhance the electron/hole pairs recombination. The Chitosan-NiO/ZnO composite also showed high recyclability in the photocatalytic efficiency with loss of only 3% after five runs. Moreover, Chitosan-NiO/ZnO also showed improved antibacterial activity against Gram-negative bacteria (E. coli) and Gram-positive bacteria (S. aureus), which is relatively higher than that of NiO/ZnO composite.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
References
Abarna, B., Preethi, T., & Rajarajeswari, G. R. (2019). Single-pot solid-state synthesis of ZnO/chitosan composite for photocatalytic and antitumour applications. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics, 30, 21355–21368. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-019-02512-5
AbdElhady, M. M. (2012). Preparation and characterization of chitosan/zinc oxide nanoparticles for imparting antimicrobial and UV protection to cotton fabric. International Journal of Carbohydrate Chemistry, 2012, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/840591
Abdul Rahman, Ayob, M., & Radiman, S. (2014). Enhanced photocatalytic performance of NiO-decorated ZnO nano whiskers for methylene blue degradation. Journal of Nanobiotechnology, 2014, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/212694
Alamdari, S., Sasani Ghamsari, M., Lee, C., Han, W., Park, H.-H., Tafreshi, M. J., Afarideh, H., & Ara, M. H. (2020). Preparation and characterization of zinc oxide nanoparticles using leaf extract of Sambucus ebulus. Journal of Applied Sciences, 10, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.3390/app10103620
Ali, S. M., Hussein, E. H., & Dakhil, O. A. A. (2021). Photocatalytic activity of ZnO/NiO nano-heterojunction synthesized by modified-chemical bath deposition. Nano Futures, 5, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1088/2399-1984/ac1dba
Alzahrani, E. (2018). Chitosan membrane embedded with ZnO/CuO nanocomposites for the photodegradation of fast green dye under artificial and solar irradiation. Analytical Chemistry Insights, 13, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/1177390118763361
Bahal, M., Kaur, N., Sharotri, N., & Sud, D. (2019). Investigations on amphoteric chitosan/TiO2 bionanocomposites for application in visible light induced photocatalytic degradation. Advances in Polymer Technology, 2019, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/2345631
Bharathi, D., Ranjithkumar, R., Chandarshekar, B., & Bhuvaneshwari, V. (2019). Preparation of chitosan coated zinc oxide nanocomposite for enhanced antibacterial and photocatalytic activity: As a bionanocomposite. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 129, 989–996. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2019.02.061
Catalano, E., & Di Benedetto, A. (2017). Characterization of physicochemical and colloidal properties of hydrogel chitosan-coated iron-oxide nanoparticles for cancer therapy. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 841, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/841/1/012010
Chakraborty, P., Mustafa, V., & Abraham, J. (2018). Synthesis and characterization of chitosan nanoparticles and their application in removal of wastewater contaminants. Nature, Environment and Pollution Technology, 17, 469–478.
da Silva-Alves, D. C., Healy, B., Pinto, L. A. D. A., Cadaval, T. R. S. A., Jr., & Breslin, C. B. (2021). Recent developments in chitosan-based adsorbents for the removal of pollutants from aqueous environments. Molecules, 26, 1–45. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26030594
Dai, P., Yan, T.-t, Yu, X.-x, Bai, Z.-m, & Wu, M.-z. (2016). Two-solvent method synthesis of NiO/ZnO nanoparticles embedded in mesoporous SBA-15: Photocatalytic properties study. Nanoscale Research Letters, 11, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s11671-016-1445-2
Danish, M. S. S., Estrella, L. L., Alemaida, I. M. A., Lisin, A., Moiseev, N., Ahmadi, M., Nazari, M., Wali, M., Zaheb, H., & Senjyu, T. (2021). Photocatalytic applications of metal oxides for sustainable environmental remediation. Metals, 11, 1–25. https://doi.org/10.3390/met11010080
Derikvandi, H., & Nezamzadeh-Ejhieh, A. (2017). Increased photocatalytic activity of NiO and ZnO in photodegradation of a model drug aqueous solution: Effect of coupling, supporting, particles size and calcination temperature. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 321, 629–638. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2016.09.056
Ding, M., Yang, H., Yan, T., Wang, C., Deng, X., Zhang, S., Huang, J., Shao, M., & Xu, X. (2018). Fabrication of hierarchical ZnO@ NiO core–shell heterostructures for improved photocatalytic performance. Nanoscale Research Letters, 13, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s11671-018-2676-1
Ghasemi, S., Rahimnejad, S., Setayesh, S. R., Rohani, S., & Gholami, M. R. (2009). Transition metal ions effect on the properties and photocatalytic activity of nanocrystalline TiO2 prepared in an ionic liquid. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 172, 1573–1578. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2009.08.029
Haldorai, Y., & Shim, J.-J. (2013). Multifunctional chitosan-copper oxide hybrid material: Photocatalytic and antibacterial activities. International Journal of Photoenergy, 2013, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/245646
Haq, S., Raja, A. W., Rehman, S. U., Mezni, A., Ben Ali, M., Hedfi, A., Shahzad, M. I., Rehman, W., Shahzad, N., & Waseem, M. J. (2021). Phytogenic synthesis and characterization of NiO-ZnO nanocomposite for the photodegradation of brilliant green and 4-nitrophenol. Journal of Chemistry, 2021, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/3475036
Hassan, A. I., & Yahya, A. M. (2020). Structural and optical properties of NiO-ZnO nanocomposite thin film prepared by spray pyrolysis. Proceedings of International Conference on Engineering & Science, 2213, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0000253
Karpuraranjith, M., & Thambidurai, S. (2017). Chitosan/zinc oxide-polyvinylpyrrolidone (CS/ZnO-PVP) nanocomposite for better thermal and antibacterial activity. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 104, 1753–1761. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2017.02.079
Karthikeyan, V., Padmanaban, A., Dhanasekaran, T., Kumar, S. P., Gnanamoorthy, G., & Narayanan, V. (2017). Synthesis and characterization of ZnO/NiO and its photocatalytic activity. Mechanics, Materials Science & Engineering Journal, 9, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.2412/mmse.23.8.292
Kiani, M., Bagherzadeh, M., Kaveh, R., Rabiee, N., Fatahi, Y., Dinarvand, R., Jang, H. W., Shokouhimehr, M., & Varma, R. S. (2020). Novel Pt-Ag3PO4/CdS/chitosan nanocomposite with enhanced photocatalytic and biological activities. Journal of Nanomaterials, 10, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10112320
Lee, M., Chen, B.-Y., & Den, W. (2015). Chitosan as a natural polymer for heterogeneous catalysts support: A short review on its applications. Journal of Applied Sciences, 5, 1272–1283. https://doi.org/10.3390/app5041272
Marand, S. A., Almasi, H., & Marand, N. A. (2021). Chitosan-based nanocomposite films incorporated with NiO nanoparticles: Physicochemical, photocatalytic and antimicrobial properties. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 190, 667–678. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2021.09.024
Munawar, T., Nadeem, M. S., Mukhtar, F., Rehman, M. N. U., Riaz, M., Batool, S., Hasan, M., & Iqbal, F. (2022a). Transition metal-doped SnO2 and graphene oxide (GO) supported nanocomposites as efficient photocatalysts and antibacterial agents. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 60, 90995–91016. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-22144-3
Munawar, T., Nadeem, M. S., Mukhtar, F., Manzoor, S., Ashiq, M. N., Batool, S., Hasan, M., & Iqbal, F. (2022). Enhanced photocatalytic, antibacterial, and electrochemical properties of CdO-based nanostructures by transition metals co-doping. Advanced Powder Technology., 33, 103451. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apt.2022.103451
Nithya, A., Jothivenkatachalam, K., Prabhu, S., & Jeganathan, K. (2014). Chitosan based nanocomposite materials as photocatalyst—A review. Materials Science Forum, 781, 79–94. https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/MSF.781.79
Ou, C., Li, S., Shao, J., Fu, T., Liu, Y., Fan, W., Yang, X., & Bi, X. (2016). Effect of transition metal ions on the thermal degradation of chitosan. Cogent Chemistry, 2, 79–94. https://doi.org/10.1080/23312009.2016.1216247
Packirisamy, R. G., Govindasamy, C., Sanmugam, A., Venkatesan, S., Kim, H.-S., & Vikraman, D. (2019). Synthesis of novel Sn1-xZnxO-chitosan nanocomposites: Structural, morphological and luminescence properties and investigation of antibacterial properties. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 138, 546–555. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2019.07.120
Paul, D., Maiti, S., Sethi, D. P., & Neogi, S. J. (2021). Bi-functional NiO-ZnO nanocomposite: Synthesis, characterization, antibacterial and photo assisted degradation study. Advanced Powder Technology, 32, 131–143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apt.2020.11.022
Periyannan, S., Manceriu, L., Nguyen, N. D., Klein, A., Jaegermann, W., Colson, P., Henrist, C., & Cloots, R. (2019). Influence of ZnO surface modification on the photocatalytic performance of ZnO/NiO thin films. Catalysis Letters, 149, 1813–1824. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10562-019-02781-z
Preethi, S., Abarna, K., Nithyasri, M., Kishore, P., Deepika, K., Ranjithkumar, R., Bhuvaneshwari, V., & Bharathi, D. (2020). Synthesis and characterization of chitosan/zinc oxide nanocomposite for antibacterial activity onto cotton fabrics and dye degradation applications. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 164, 2779–2787. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2020.08.047
Qamar, M. A., Javed, M., & Shahid, S. (2022). Designing and investigation of enhanced photocatalytic and antibacterial properties of 3d (Fe Co, Ni, Mn and Cr) metal-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles. Optical Materials, 126, 112211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.optmat.2022.112211
Rahdar, A., Aliahmad, M., & Azizi, Y. (2015). NiO nanoparticles: Synthesis and characterization. Journal of Nanostructures, 5, 145–151. https://doi.org/10.7508/jns.2015.02.009
Sajjad, B., Ali, S., & Farrukh, M. A. (2020). Synthesis of NiO/ZnO nanoparticles application for photodegradation of methylene blue. JSCER, 1, 95–99. https://doi.org/10.46379/jscer.2020.010403
Sanuja, S., Agalya, A., & Umapathy, M. J. (2015). Synthesis and characterization of zinc oxide-neem oil-chitosan bionanocomposite for food packaging application. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 74, 76–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2014.11.036
Senapati, S., Srivastava, S. K., & Singh, S. B. (2012). Synthesis, characterization and photocatalytic activity of magnetically separable hexagonal Ni/ZnO nanostructure. Nanoscale, 4, 6604–6612. https://doi.org/10.1039/c2nr31831h
Shuaib, U., Hussain, T., Ahmad, R., Zakaullah, M., Mubarik, F. E., Sidra, & Sana. (2020). Plasma-liquid synthesis of silver nanoparticles and their antibacterial and antifungal applications. Materials Research Express, 7, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1591/ab7cb6
Song, Y., Wang, Q., Yang, W., Chen, Q., Zhou, Y., & Zhou, L. (2022). Chitosan-nickel oxide composite as an efficient adsorbent for removal of Congo red from aqueous solution. Journal of Dispersion Science and Technology, 43, 1689–1699. https://doi.org/10.1080/01932691.2021.1878901
Thambidurai, S., Gowthaman, P., Venkatachalam, M., & Suresh, S. (2020). Enhanced bactericidal performance of nickel oxide-zinc oxide nanocomposites synthesized by facile chemical co-precipitation method. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 830, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2020.154642
Theivasanthi, T., & Alagar, M. (2012). Chemical capping synthesis of nickel oxide nanoparticles and their characterizations studies. Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, 2, 134–138. https://doi.org/10.5923/j.nn.20120205.01
Udayachandran Thampy, U., Mahesh, A., Sibi, K., Jawahar, I., & Biju, V. (2019). Enhanced photocatalytic activity of ZnO–NiO nanocomposites synthesized through a facile sonochemical route. SN Applied Sciences, 1, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-019-1426-z
Umar, M., & Aziz, H. A. (2013). Photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants in water. Organic Pollutants, 8, 196–197. https://doi.org/10.5772/53699
Wang, Y., Zhang, Q., Zhang, C.-l, & Li, P. (2012). Characterisation and cooperative antimicrobial properties of chitosan/nano-ZnO composite nanofibrous membranes. Food Chemistry, 132, 419–427. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2011.11.015
Wang, W., Yang, R., Li, T., Komarneni, S., & Liu, B. (2021). Advances in recyclable and superior photocatalytic fibers: Material, construction, application and future perspective. Composites Part B: Engineering, 205, 108512. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2020.108512
Warsi, M. F., Shaheen, N., Sarwar, M. I., Agboola, P. O., Shakir, I., & Zulfiqar, S. (2021). A comparative study on photocatalytic activities of various transition metal oxides nanoparticles synthesized by wet chemical route. Desalination and Water Treatment, 211, 181–195. https://doi.org/10.5004/dwt.2021.26463
Wu, L., Jimmy, C. Y., & Fu, X. (2006). Characterization and photocatalytic mechanism of nanosized CdS coupled TiO2 nanocrystals under visible light irradiation. Journal of Molecular Catalysis a: Chemical, 244, 25–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcata.2005.08.047
Yedurkar, S., Maurya, C., & Mahanwar, P. (2016). Applications, biosynthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles using ixora coccinea leaf extract—A green approach. OJSTA, 5, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojsta.2016.51001
Yousaf, S., Zulfiqar, S., Din, M. I., Agboola, P. O., Aboud, M. F. A., Warsi, M. F., & Shakir, I. (2021). Solar light irradiated photocatalytic activity of ZnO–NiO/rGO nanocatalyst. Journal of Materials Research and Technology, 12, 999–1009. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmrt.2021.03.012
Zemskova, L., Silant’ev, V., Tokar, E., & Egorin, A. (2021). Synthesis of inorganic compounds in the matrix of polysaccharide chitosan. Biomimetics (Basel), 6, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics6030045
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Yasin, A., Hussain, T., Ahmad, R. et al. Photocatalytic and Antibacterial Potential of Chitosan Supported Nickel Oxide/Zinc Oxide Composite Synthesized by Alcohothermal Method. Water Air Soil Pollut 234, 592 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-023-06596-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-023-06596-y