Synthesis of Cu-MOF/CeO2 nanocomposite and their evaluation of hydrogen production and cytotoxic activity

In this investigation, new composites of cerium oxide were incorporated in the copper-based metal–organic framework using trimesic acid by the precipitation method. Synthesized Cu-MOF/CeO2 nanocomposite is characterized by numerous analytical methods to interpret their structure, morphology, and thermal behaviour. Surface micrograph analysis revealed that spherical particles and cerium oxide nanoparticles are embedded in the Cu-MOF matrix. The prepared nanocomposite shows a lesser onset potential and overpotential with a high current density (18.6 mA cm−2). The Cu-MOF/CeO2 composite exhibits a small Tafel slope of 54.6 mV dec-1 and suggests that the hydrogen evolution reaction follows the Heyrovsky mechanism. On the other hand, five different MOF/CeO2 nanocomposite concentrations were tested on a human osteosarcoma cell line (MG63). The 50% cell mortality was observed at 97.9 μg/ml and it proved less cytotoxicity effect with better biocompatibility. Thus, overall results showed that the nanocomposite as an efficient electrocatalyst towards hydrogen evolution reaction and targeted drug delivery applications.