Department of Physics, International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Nanoscale. 2017 Nov 2;9(42):16321-16328. doi: 10.1039/c7nr05756c.
The increased levels of industrial pollutants in water and of drug-resistant pathogens more generally are a serious threat to human and aquatic life. Herein, we present the solar-light-induced dye removal and bactericidal properties of nickel oxide (NiO) and graphene nanoplatelet (GNP) nanocomposites. The conducting nature of GNPs is the key factor that accounts for the enhanced photocatalytic and antibacterial activity. Remarkably, the graphene/NiO nanocomposite shows outstanding photocatalytic activity (99% degradation) as compared to NiO (34%) alone, which makes it a potential candidate for the depollution of dye-contaminated water. In addition, the optimized amount of GNPs in the graphene/NiO nanocomposite renders it an exceptional antibacterial material, producing 100% growth inhibition of pathogenic microorganisms (both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria). Therefore, the graphene/NiO nanocomposite can be an innovative material to achieve complete pathogen control, alongside being an economic solution for water treatment.
水中工业污染物水平的上升和更普遍的耐药病原体是对人类和水生生物的严重威胁。在此，我们展示了氧化镍（NiO）和石墨烯纳米片（GNP）纳米复合材料在太阳光照射下的染料去除和杀菌性能。GNPs 的导电性是解释其增强的光催化和抗菌活性的关键因素。值得注意的是，与单独的 NiO（34%）相比，石墨烯/NiO 纳米复合材料具有出色的光催化活性（99%的降解），使其成为受染料污染的水净化的潜在候选材料。此外，石墨烯/NiO 纳米复合材料中 GNPs 的最佳用量使其成为一种出色的抗菌材料，对致病微生物（革兰氏阳性菌和革兰氏阴性菌）产生 100%的生长抑制作用。因此，石墨烯/NiO 纳米复合材料可以成为一种实现完全病原体控制的创新材料，同时也是一种经济的水处理解决方案。
