Synthesis and characterization of ZnO/β-cyclodextrin/nicotinic acid nanocomposite and its biological and environmental application

Abstract

Abstract In the present work, the disk-shaped zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles were synthesized and functionalized with β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and nicotinic acid (vitamin B3) using the wet co-precipitation method. The functionalized ZnO/β-CD/nicotinic acid nanocomposite materials were characterized using UV-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), field emission electron microscopy (FESEM), and band-gap energy analysis. The band gap value (E g) was 4.3 eV. The average XRD crystallite size was determined using the Scherrer formula and was found to be 50 nm. The ZnO/β-CD/nicotinic acid nanocomposite material showed a photocatalytic effect for dye-polluted wastewater. It also showed an antibacterial effect against the Gram-positive bacterial strain Streptococcus aureus (S. aureus) but did not show any antibacterial activity with Gram-negative Escherichia coli (E. coli). The ZnO/β-CD/nicotinic acid nanocomposite also showed antifungal activity with Aspergillus niger (A. niger). It was noticed that ZnO/β-CD/nicotinic acid nanocomposite showed efficient anticancer activity with IC50 = 14.95 µg·mL−1 in MCF-7 cell lines. Because of the formation of singlet oxygen (O2˙−) and hydrogen oxide radical (–OH˙), the composite material showed a photodegradation reaction against aq. solution of methylene blue dye. After 190 min, the blue colour of aq. solution methylene blue was decolourized at 6 pH at a constant time interval.