Facile synthesis of W1-yFeyO3@NiO@RGO ternary nanohybrid with enhanced sunlight mediated photocatalytic and bactericidal activities for water purification

In this research, W0.98Fe0.02O3@NiO@RGO (WFN@RGO) nanohybrid with superior bactericidal and photo-catalytic properties has been successfully fabricated via a two-step wet chemical process. For comparison, bare W0.98Fe0.02O3@NiO (WFN) nanoparticles are also synthesized. The as-fabricated WFN nanoparticles and WFN@RGO nanohybrid are assessed for the removal of methyl orange (MO) dye under solar-light irradiation and more for the disinfection of E. coli (G(-)) and S. aureus (G(+)) pathogens. Compared to WFN nanoparticles, the WFN@RGO nanohybrid revealed excellent bactericidal activity and three-times higher catalytic activity by degrading similar to 95% of MO dye in 80 min of solar-light irradiation. This property of the WFN@RGO nanohybrid is attributed to the significantly prolonged separation of photo-induced e(-)/h(+) pairs owing to charge transfer among WFN nanoparticles and RGO-sheets, lower bandgap energy, and the synergetic effect of W0.98Fe0.02O3, NiO, and RGO in the WFN@RGO nanohybrid. In addition, the WFN@RGO nanohybrid demonstrated outstanding catalytic stability, and we detected only a 6.95% loss of degradation efficiency after five cycles. Furthermore, we also came up with a possible photodegradation mechanism for removing MO dye using WFN@RGO nanohybrid.

Automated summary

A WFN@RGO nanohybrid with superior bactericidal and photo-catalytic properties was successfully fabricated via a two-step wet chemical process. Compared to WFN nanoparticles, the WFN@RGO nanohybrid showed higher catalytic activity and bactericidal activity under solar-light irradiation, possibly due to prolonged separation of photo-induced electron-hole pairs, lower bandgap energy, and the synergistic effect of W0.98Fe0.02O3, NiO, and RGO.