Facile synthesis of silver doped manganese oxide nanocomposite with superior photocatalytic and antimicrobial activity under visible spectrum

Abstract Water pollution and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) have become two global threats; 80% of diseases and 50% of child deaths are due to poor water quality. In this study, hydrothermal processing was employed to manufacture manganese oxide nanorods. Silver dopant was deposited on the surface of manganese oxide. XRD diffractogram confirmed the facile synthesis of Ag/Mn 2 O 3 nanocomposite. XPS survey analysis demonstrated silver content of 9.43 atom %. Photocatalytic measurements demonstrated the outstanding efficiency of the Ag-Mn 2 O 3 compared to virgin oxide particles under visible radiation. Degradation efficiencies Mn 2 O 3 and Ag/Mn 2 O 3 on methyl orange (MO) dye was found to be 53% and 85% under visible spectrum. Silver dopant was found to decrease the binding energy of valence electrons; this action could support electron–hole pair generation under visible spectrum and could promote catalytic performance. Ag/Mn 2 O 3 NPs demonstrated most effective performance (95% removal efficiency) at pH 3; this could be ascribed to the electrostatic attraction between positively charged catalyst and the negatively charged MO. Ag/Mn 2 O 3 demonstrated enhanced antibacterial activity against Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus ) (19 mm ZOI), and Gram-negative Escherichia coli ( E. coli ) (22 mm ZOI) respectively; the developed nanocomposite demonstrated advanced anti-film activity with inhibition percentage of 95.5% against E. coli followed by 89.5% against S. aureus .