Optimized PEG/eudragit-Zn₄V₂O₉ nanostructures for effective catalytic and antibacterial activity with computational insights

A low-temperature co-precipitation approach was used to synthesize polyethylene glycol (PEG) and eudragit (Eud) doped zinc vanadate (Zn₄V₂O₉) for effective methyl orange dye reduction and antibacterial activity. This study aimed to increase the catalytic and antibacterial efficacy of Zn₄V₂O₉, by providing more active sites, and charge transfer efficacy with dopants. Varying concentrations of PEG were doped into Eud-Zn₄V₂O₉, 3 % PEG/Eud-Zn₄V₂O₉ was optimized for catalytic activity and 6 % PEG/Eud-Zn₄V₂O₉ was optimized for antibacterial activity. Comprehensive characterizations revealed monoclinic crystal structure, polycrystalline behavior, reduced bandgap energy, and multiple morphologies of PEG/Eud-Zn₄V₂O₉. The optimized sample showed 97.85 % degradation of methyl orange with a reducing agent without the presence of light. 6 % PEG/Eud-Zn₄V₂O₉ proved to be an effective to be an effective antibacterial agent (inhibition zone 6.55 ± 0.02) against S. aureus. The docking analysis of Eud-doped Zn₄V₂O₉ and PEG/Eud-doped Zn₄V₂O₉ laid out the suppressive effects of DNA gyrase enzyme in S. aureus, besides their antibacterial properties.