Preparation and characterization of MgAl2O4 nanoparticles by hydrothermal method and their photocatalytic and antibacterial activity applications

Abstract

In this study, MgAl2O4 nanoparticles were prepared by the hydrothermal method. XRD studies confirmed the presence of cubic crystal structure with no other impurities at higher reaction times. The calculated crystallite size decreased from 22 to 12 nm with the increase in reaction times. FTIR analysis confirmed the nature of their structure bonding and the metal oxides detected below 1000 cm−1. FESEM and HRTEM images revealed the MgAl2O4 sample showed hexagonal plate structures and the SAED pattern exhibited polycrystalline in nature. EDS analysis confirmed the presence of Mg, Al and O elements. The chemical and oxidation state of the constituents were revealed by XPS (Mg2+). The UV–vis results of prepared samples showed a strong absorption edge in the visible region and bandgap values were increased from 3.05 to 3.46 eV. 24 hrs of MgAl2O4 photocatalyst material showed better photocatalytic properties in degrading RhB dye was 80 % after 140 min of irradiation. Moreover, the results derived from antibacterial activity revealed that 24 h of MgAl2O4 nanoparticles high incubation zone against Staphylococcus aureus.