Functionalized polymer & metal oxide nanocomposite material for efficiency antibacterial and photocatalytic applications

Functionalized polymer&metal oxide nanocomposite materials are distinguished by their multifunctional properties. In this work, for the synthesis of a functional polymer-metal oxide nanocomposite material, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) was first modified with polyethyleneimine (PEI) under heterogeneous conditions. After amination, the Cu (II) ions were adsorbed onto anion-exchange (PPE-4) material. The resulting polymer/metal complex was then thermally treated to synthesize a functional nanocomposite CuO&PPE-4 material containing copper oxide nanoparticles on the polymer surface. Synthesized functional CuO&PPE-4 nanocomposite material was characterized using UV–Vis, PL, FTIR, Raman, XRD, SEM-EDX, and BET surface analysis to identification its structure, morphology, and physico-chemical properties. The antibacterial activity was tested against Escherichia coli (E.coli) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) for Gram-negative as well as Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) for Gram-positive bacteriums. Revealing a 26 ± 0.5 mm inhibition zone for E. coli, 35 ± 0.5 mm for P. aeruginosa and 21 ± 0.5 mm S. aureus which significantly exceeded that of Cu²⁺&PPE-4 due to enhanced reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and improved charge separation. Moreover, the photocatalytic degradation of the functional CuO&PPE-4 material of tetracycline (TC) was evaluated under sunlight degradation. UV–Vis spectroscopy confirmed a progressive decline in TC absorbance at 276 nm and 358 nm, indicating effective photocatalysis. The process followed pseudo-first-order kinetics, with rate constants of 1.01685 min⁻¹ (5 mg/L TC), 0.90951 min⁻¹ (10 mg/L), and 0.48637 min⁻¹ (20 mg/L). Possible reaction pathways for the photocatalytic degradation of TC are presented based on HPLC MS analysis. The functionalized CuO&PPE-4 nanocomposite material synthesized at 150 °C exhibited a low band gap of 1.53 eV than other materials, which ensured effective photocatalytic and antibacterial activities. Furthermore, practical results show that the functionalized CuO&PPE-4 nanocomposite material removes TC very effectively from pharmaceutical industry wastewater.