ABSTRACT:
The tenacious amount of textile industrial dye and bacterial residues in water-based environments has endlessly endangered aquatic life and public health, necessitating immediate resolution. In this survey, various metal oxide (MO) composites including Ag2O, Fe2O3, AgFe2O3, TiO2, Ag-TiO2, Fe-TiO2, and AgFe-TiO2 were synthesised via solvothermal process. The multifunctionality of the composites was evaluated based on the decolouration of Congo red dye and disinfection of gram-positive B. subtilis bacteria in synthetic wastewater. The results showed that higher B. subtilis bacterial reduction was achieved with AgFe₂O₃ (64 %) and Ag-TiO₂ (58 %). On the other hand, the highest photocatalytic performance of 99.99 % and 98% for Congo red (CR) dye reduction was achieved with TiO₂ and AgFe₂O₃, respectively, after a visible light exposure duration of 5h. Further optimization studies showed that both TiO₂ and AgFe₂O₃ composites performed up to three consecutive cycles for total decolouration of CR dye. The results of this study demonstrate that thermally stable multifunctional green catalysts synthesized via a cost-effective solvohydrothermal technique are efficient for the simultaneous reduction of organic dyes and bacterial-contaminated water. This work was published in the journal ‘‘Chemical Physics Impact’’ and encourages researchers to engineer green materials that can play multiple roles in the remediation of wastewater, which is a major threat to the environment and public health.