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 Ir-doped titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) with an anatase phase by the microwave-assisted method using an aqueous solution of titanium tetra-isopropoxide (TTIP) and iridium (III) chloride monohydrate. The synthesized Ir-doped TiO2 NPs were characterized by using various spectro-analytical techniques for the confirmation of NPs. The photocatalytic activity of the synthesized Ir-doped TiO2 NPs has been evaluated by taking 2-chlorophenol (2-CP), 4-chlorophenol (4-CP), 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 Ir-doped TiO2 NPs. The efficient photocatalytic degradation was observed in the degradation of 2-CP in 60 min of sunlight irradiation. The rate equation of photocatalytic degradation mechanism was followed pseudo-first 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.