Facile synthesis of silver and polyacrylic acid doped magnesium oxide nanostructure for photocatalytic dye degradation and bactericidal behavior

The presence of cationic dyes in wastewater significantly increase the complexity of processing. Visible-light-trapped inorganic semiconductor for dye degradation has recently become an efficient approach. A convenient one-step co-precipitation process was used to synthesize pristine and doped MgO nanoparticles (NPs). This study aimed to improve the photocatalytic and antibacterial activity of MgO by using different concentrations of Ag (0.03 and 0.06)wt% with a fixed amount of PAA (0.06%). These synthesized samples were used to monitor methylene blue (MB) dye decolourization from an aqueous medium as well as growth inhibition of Staphylococcus aureus (s.aureus) and Escherichia coli (E.coli). The structural, morphological and optical properties of MgO and Ag: PAA-MgO were examined using advanced techniques. XRD measurements confirmed hexagonal and cubic phases of MgO and crystallization supresssion upon doping. TEM micrographs revealed hexagonal NPs morphology of MgO. UV–vis spectrophotometer identified a redshift upon doping in absorption spectra and the influence of Ag: PAA on bandgap. A significant improvement in photocatalytic and antibacterial performances was observed for doped NPs with an optimum degradation efficiency (93%) and efficient antibacterial activity towards S.aureus indicated by inhibition zone (mm) achieved for Ag: PAA-MgO.