Graphene nanoplatelets/CeO nanotiles nanocomposites as effective antibacterial material for multiple drug-resistant bacteria.

Antibacterial agents with low toxicity to normal cells, redox activity and free radical scavenging property are urgently needed to address the global health crisis. The phenomenal conducting nature of graphene is a best fit to enhance the antibacterial properties of metal oxides. In this work, CeO nanotiles and graphene nanoplatelets/CeO nanotiles nanocomposites (G/CeO) have been synthesized by a solvothermal method. The prepared materials have been characterized using XRD, FE-SEM, EDX, and UV-visible spectroscopy techniques to investigate their crystallinity, morphology, composition, and optical bandgap energies. The CeO and G/CeO nanocomposites have also been tested for antibacterial applications. The neat CeO nanotiles sample inhibits the bacterial growth of and up to 14.21% and 39.53% respectively. The antibacterial activity was tremendously enhanced using 25% graphene-loaded sample (G/CeO-II) i.e., approximately 83% loss of and 89% in case of has been observed. This can be attributed to the unique nano-architecture, oxidative stress due to the excellent ability of reversible conversion between the two electronic states of CeO and the stress exerted by the planar graphene and CeO nanotiles. Therefore, the G/CeO nanocomposites can find potential application as nano-antibiotics for controlling pathogens.