Nanotextured CeO2-SnO2 Composite: Efficient Photocatalytic, Antibacterial, and Energy Storage Fibers

Jari S Algethami; M Shamshi Hassan; Touseef Amna; Faheem A Sheikh; Mohsen A M Alhamami; Amal F Seliem; M Faisal; H Y Kim

doi:10.3390/nano13061001

Nanotextured CeO₂-SnO₂ Composite: Efficient Photocatalytic, Antibacterial, and Energy Storage Fibers

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2023 Mar 10;13(6):1001. doi: 10.3390/nano13061001.

Authors

Jari S Algethami^{1

2}, M Shamshi Hassan³, Touseef Amna⁴, Faheem A Sheikh⁵, Mohsen A M Alhamami¹, Amal F Seliem¹, M Faisal^{1

2}, H Y Kim⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, College of Science and Arts, Najran University, Najran 11001, Saudi Arabia.
² Promising Centre for Sensors and Electronic Devices (PCSED), Advanced Materials and Nano-Research Centre, Najran University, Najran 11001, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Albaha University, Albaha 65799, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Biology, College of Science, Albaha University, Albaha 65799, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Nanostructured and Biomimetic Lab, Department of Nanotechnology, University of Kashmir Hazratbal, Srinagar 190006, India.
⁶ Organic Materials and Fibers Engineering Department, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju 560011, Republic of Korea.

Abstract

Bacterial infections remain a serious and pervasive threat to human health. Bacterial antibiotic resistance, in particular, lowers treatment efficacy and increases mortality. The development of nanomaterials has made it possible to address issues in the biomedical, energy storage, and environmental fields. This paper reports the successful synthesis of CeO₂-SnO₂ composite nanofibers via an electrospinning method using polyacrylonitrile polymer. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy assessments showed that the average diameter of CeO₂-SnO₂ nanofibers was 170 nm. The result of photocatalytic degradation for methylene blue dye displayed enhanced efficiency of the CeO₂-SnO₂ composite. The addition of SnO₂ to CeO₂ resulted in the enhancement of the light absorption property and enriched charge transmission of photoinduced electron-hole duos, which conspicuously contributed to momentous photoactivity augmentation. Composite nanofibers exhibited higher specific capacitance which may be accredited to the synergism between CeO₂ and SnO₂ particles in nanofibers. Furthermore, antibacterial activity was screened against Escherichia coli and CeO₂-SnO₂ composite nanofibers depicted excellent activity. The findings of this work point to new possibilities as an electrode material in energy storage systems and as a visible-light-active photocatalyst for the purification of chemical and biological contaminants, which would substantially benefit environmental remediation processes.

Keywords: CeO2−SnO2; antimicrobial; environmental remediation; photocatalyst; supercapacitor.

Grants and funding

The authors are thankful to the Deanship of Scientific Research at Najran University for funding this work under the General Research Funding program “Functional Composite Materials for Water Remediation”, grant code (NU/DRP/SERC/12/45).