Electrochemical investigations and antimicrobial activity of Au nanoparticles photodeposited on titania nanoparticles

Hussein M A Al-Maydama; Yasmin M S Jamil; Mohammed A H Awad; Adlia A M Abduljabbar

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e23722

Electrochemical investigations and antimicrobial activity of Au nanoparticles photodeposited on titania nanoparticles

Heliyon. 2023 Dec 19;10(1):e23722. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e23722. eCollection 2024 Jan 15.

Authors

Hussein M A Al-Maydama¹, Yasmin M S Jamil¹, Mohammed A H Awad^{1

2}, Adlia A M Abduljabbar³

Affiliations

¹ Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Sana'a University, Yemen.
² Chemistry Department, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Thamar University, Yemen.
³ Chemistry Department, Faculty of Applied Sciences and Humanities, Amran University, Yemen.

Abstract

Titanium oxide nanopowder (TiO₂ NPs) was synthesized via anodization in 0.7 M perchloric acid then annealed in nitrogen at 450 °C for 3 h to prepared the Titanium Oxide Nitrogen annealed nanoparticles (TiO₂ NPs-N₂) powder as catalytic support. Using a photodeposition process, gold was added with isopropanol as a sacrificial donor and H[AuCl₄] acid, producing gold nanoparticles on nitrogen-annealed titanium oxide nanoparticles (Au-NPs on TiO₂-NPs-N₂). The mass loading of Au NPs was 2.86 × 10^-4 (g/cm²). TEM images of Au NPs on TiO₂-NPs-N₂ suggest circular particles with a tendency to agglomerate. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) was used to investigate the electrocatalytic performance of the Au NPs/TiO₂-NPs-N₂ catalysts in ferrocyanide, KOH, and H₂SO₄, and the results were compared to those of a polycrystalline Au electrode that is readily accessible in the market. In KOH, H₂SO₄, and (2 M KOH + 0.1 M glycerol) solutions, the Au NPs/TiO₂-NPs-N₂ electrode displayed a startlingly high electrocatalytic performance. Using CV, the electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) of Au NPs/TiO₂-NPs-N₂ and Au-NPs against glycerol oxidation in basic media was studied. The results indicated that Au NPs/TiO₂-NPs-N₂ is a promising support material for improving the electrocatalytic activity for acidic and basic oxidation. The electrode made of Au NPs/TiO₂-NTs-N₂ has steady electrocatalytic activity and may be reused repeatedly. TiO₂ NPs and Au NPs/TiO₂NPs-N₂ showed satisfactory antibacterial activity against some human pathogenic bacteria using the disc diffusion method.

Keywords: Anodization; Antimicrobial activity; Au nanoparticles; Cyclic voltammetry; Glycerol electrooxidation; Photodeposition; TiO2 nanoparticles.