Study of Photocatalytic Degradation, Kinetics and Microbial Activities of Copper (II) Soya Urea Complex in Non-Aqueous Media

Abstract

The aim of this research work is to synthesise, study and analyse photocatalytic degradation, kinetics and microbial activity of new surfactant Copper (II) soya urea complex (CSU). Photocatalytic degradation has gained the attention of the scientific community throughout the world due to its multiple applications in environment, energy, wastewater treatment, pollution control, green chemistry, etc. Copper (II) soya urea complex has been synthesized and characterized through FT-IR, NMR, ESR studies. Present work deals with the study of photocatalytic degradation of Copper (II) soya urea complex by using ZnO as a semiconductor. This study employs a semiconductor catalyst using non-polar and non-aqueous solvent in photocatalytic degradation. The reaction rate is chosen as the photocatalytic activity, which has been governed by several factors. Antibacterial activities of the Copper (II) complex have also been studied against Staphylococcus aureus. Optical density (O.D.) was measured after different time intervals spectrophotometrically to measure the degradation of the complex. Mueller- Hinton agar medium was used for antimicrobial activity of synthesized compounds at different concentrations by disk/well diffusion susceptibility testing. Plot of 2+log O.D. (absorbance) versus time was plotted and found linear. The heterogeneous photocatalysis followed pseudo-first-order reaction kinetics. The present study suggests that Copper (II) soya urea (CSU) complex shows antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus at different concentrations. The results were used to determine the rate of photocatalytic degradation of CSU complex. It has been found that the rate of degradation varies with different parameters like concentration of complex, amount of catalyst, light intensity, solvent polarity, etc. CSU complex derived from soyabean oil has been shown an inhibitory effect on the growth of S. aureus, which may cause skin disease.