ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH, vol.30, no.43, pp.1-13, 2023 (SCI-Expanded)
Co3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) were formed using hydrothermal synthesis method and various surfactants to study the effect of changing surface morphology on catalytic and antibacterial activities. FT-IR, TEM, SEM, BET, XRD, and XPS analyses were performed to characterize the NPs. It was observed that as the morphology of Co3O4 changes, it creates differences in the reduction efficiency of organic dyes and p-nitrophenol (p-NP), which are toxic to living organisms and widely used in industry. The reaction rate constants (K-app) for Co3O4- urea, Co3O4- ed, and Co3O4- NaOH in the reduction of p-NP were found to be 1.86 x10(-2) s(-1), 1.83 x10(-2) s(-1), and 2.4 x10(-3) s(-1), respectively. In the presence of Co3O4- urea catalyst from the prepared nanoparticles, 99.29% conversion to p-aminophenol (p-AP) was observed, while in the presence of the same catalyst, 98.06% of methylene blue (MB) was removed within 1 h. The antibacterial activity of Co3O4 particles was compared with five standard antibiotics for both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. The results obtained indicate that the antimicrobial activity of the synthesized Co3O4 particles has a remarkable inhibitory effect on the growth of various pathogenic microorganisms. The current work could be an innovative and beneficial search for both biomedical and wastewater treatment applications.