Sunlight-driven efficient photocatalytic and antimicrobial studies of microwave-assisted Ir-doped TiO2 nanoparticles for environmental safety

A simple, low-cost and an eco-friendly synthesis of Irdoped titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) with an anatase phase by the microwave-assisted method using an aqueous solution of titanium tetraisopropoxide (TTIP) and iridium (III) chloride monohydrate. The synthesized Irdoped TiO2 NPs were characterized by using various spectroanalytical techniques for the confirmation of NPs. The photocatalytic activity of the synthesized Irdoped TiO2 NPs has been evaluated by taking 2chlorophenol (2-CP), 4chlorophenol (4CP), 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) and 2,4,6-trichlorophenols (2,4,6-TCP) as model water contaminant pollutants under sunlight irradiation. The photocatalytic conversion is approximately 84.24%, 81.22%, 76.01% and 72.11% of 2-CP, 4-CP, 2,4-DCP and 2,4,6-TCP respectively, by using the synthesized Irdoped TiO2 NPs. The efficient photocatalytic degradation was observed in the degradation of 2CP in 60 min of sunlight irradiation. The rate equation of photocatalytic degradation mechanism was followed pseudofirst order kinetics. Finally, the screening of antimicrobial activity by paper disc method against few bacteria, such as Escherichia coli (E. coli), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa), Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and fungi such as Aspergillus niger (A. niger) and Candida albicans (C. albicans), showed that the prepared Ir-doped TiO2 NPs have the prominent results.