Deterioration of Cadmium and pathogens from contaminated water using hydrothermally prepared NiO-ZnO-RGO composite

In this paper, we reported that ternary composites of NiO-ZnO-RGO (NZR) were obtained through the hydrothermal approach. The structural, morphological and optical properties of synthesized compounds were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), UV–Visible diffuse reflectance spectrophotometer (DRS), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The analysis results demonstrated that the morphology of synthesized NZR composite is spherical like shape and bandgap energy is 3.15 eV. Further, NZR composite was examined for the removal of cadmium ions (Cd (II)) from wastewater by adsorption using atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). The experimental results showed that NZR composite can absorb Cd (II) at pH-9 as well Freundlich isotherm model is apt to deterioration of Cd (II), thus adsorption lies on heterogeneous surfaces. The synthesized ternary composites are NZR-5% and NZR-10% were effective for the removal of Cd (II) 76% and 80% respectively in 3h. Meanwhile, the antibacterial activities of hydrothermally synthesized NZR composites were studied on Vibrio cholarae and Shigelli flexneri. The enhanced antimicrobial performance of ternary composites has been achieved. The hydrothermally synthesized NZR composite may be used effectively in the cleaning of polluted water.