Carbon coated tungsten doped molybdenum oxide nanowires and their composite with graphitic carbon nitride for photocatalysis and antibacterial studies

In present study, 1D carbon coated tungsten doped molybdenum oxide nanowires (WMO@C) were prepared by one step hydrothermal scheme to overcome the harmful effects of toxic dyes and infectious bacterial strains. The WMO@C nanowires were then integrated with graphitic carbon nitride (gCN) to synthesize their ternary nanocomposites to boost up photocatalytic and antibacterial activities for environmental remediation. XRD results indicated orthorhombic structure of WMO@C with crystallite size 4.3 which reduced to 3.53 by integration of gCN. SEM micrograph revealed 1D nanowires of synthesized nanophotocatalyst with average diameter of 192.33 nm. The WMO, WMO@C and WMO@C/gCN nanocomposites were effectively employed for the degradation of colored organic contaminants methylene blue (MB), crystal violet (CV), malachite green (MG) and colorless diverse effluents benzimidazole and benzoic acid and more for inhibition sterilization of P. aeruginosa and S. aureus microbes. After 120 min, 91% of MB, 89% of CV, 92% of MG, 65% of benzimidazole and 69% of benzoic acid were degraded by WMO@C/gCN nanocomposites under visible light. The superior photocatalytic competency of WMO@C/gCN was attributed to the enlarged surface area, slow photo-induced electron-hole recombination rate, significant charge transfer capacity and strong redox ability due to chemical bonds developed between gCN and 1D WMO@C nanowires. Different important reaction parameters such as pH effect, temperature effect, change in dye concentration and photocatalyst dose were studied. Facile synthetic route and outstanding photodegradation and antimicrobial performance proposes that WMO@C/gCN nanocomposites possess high potential for environmental remediation.