Novel hybrid chitosan blended MoO3–TiO2 nanocomposite film: evaluation of its solar light photocatalytic and antibacterial activities

Abstract

In the present study, we report newly synthesized TiO₂ and MoO₃–TiO₂ nanocomposites and chitosan and chitosan-blended MoO₃–TiO₂ nanocomposite films by sol–gel and solution cast methods, respectively. The synthesized nanocomposite films were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, TG-DTA and FESEM with EDAX. The antibacterial activities of the prepared nanocomposite films were tested against E. coli using the well diffusion method. The photocatalytic activities of the materials were investigated against methyl orange dye as a model organic pollutant under the irradiation of solar light. Furthermore, the mechanical properties (tensile strength and elongation) were determined using a Universal Testing Machine. From the obtained results, it was concluded that the chitosan-blended MoO₃–TiO₂ nanocomposite film exhibited higher photocatalytic, antibacterial and mechanical properties than the other materials.