Photocatalytic and antibacterial activity of graphene oxide/cellulose-doped TiO quantum dots: molecular docking studies.

Graphene oxide (GO) and cellulose nanocrystal (CNC)-doped TiO quantum dots (QDs) were effectively synthesized by employing the co-precipitation method for the degradation of dyes and antimicrobial applications. A series of characterizations, , XRD, FTIR, UV-visible spectroscopy, EDS, FE-SEM, and HR-TEM, was used to characterize the prepared samples. A reduction in PL intensity was observed, while the band gap energy ( ) decreased from 3.22 to 2.96 eV upon the incorporation of GO/CNC in TiO. In the Raman spectra, the D and G bands were detected, indicating the presence of graphene oxide in the composites. Upon doping, the crystallinity of TiO increased. HR-TEM was employed to estimate the interlayer -spacing of the nanocomposites, which matched well with the XRD data. The photocatalytic potential of the prepared samples was tested against methylene blue, methylene violet, and ciprofloxacin (MB:MV:CF) when exposed to visible light for a certain period. The antibacterial activity of GO/CNC/TiO QDs against () and () bacteria was tested to determine their potential for medicinal applications. The molecular docking investigations of CNC-TiO and GO/CNC-doped TiO against DNA gyrase and FabI from and were found to be consistent with the results of the bactericidal activity test. We believe that the prepared nanocomposites will be highly efficient for wastewater treatment and antimicrobial activities.