Novel rGO/PAAQ/HTs Reinforced SnO2@NiCo2O4 as Effective Catalyst for Photodegradation, Electrochemical Evaluation, Biomedical and Phytoscreening Effects

In this study, multifunctionalized SnO2/NiCo2O4 composite has been enhanced by different reinforcement materials by hydrothermal method and the physico-chemical properties were analyzed by studies like XRD, UV-Vis, FESEM-EDX, TEM and BET etc. From the analytical results, SnO2/NiCo2O4 composite exhibited remarkable findings in the targeted catalytic applications. After the addition of rGO to the spinel material, the band gap value of rGO-SnO2/NiCo2O4 catalysts has lowered from 2.68 eV to 2.10 eV, which could improve their photo-electrocatalytic ability. To gain better knowledge of the formation of metal oxides and their composite materials, there is need for presenting the mechanism and seed growth process that have been proposed based on the experimental results. rGO supported SnO2/NiCo2O4 catalyst showed greater efficiency due to high surface area, easy charge transfer process and superior kinetic behavior in OER with onset potential of 1.538 V with lower over potential of 308 mV at current density of 10 mA cm- 2. The lowest Tafel slope was 63 mV dec- 1 and the TOF value was found to be 0.503 S- 1 which improves the OER activity. rGO-SnO2/NiCo2O4 composite showed the potential for irradiation of methylene blue (92.09%), rhodamine B (95.88%) and acetaminophen (95.54%) effectively. The toxicity characteristics of the degraded solution were also analyzed. Hence the result revealed that the degraded solution improves the seed germination viability of Vigna radiata (D-MB = 87.50%, D-RhB = 95.82% and D-AP = 94.20%) compared to the pristine dye solution. In addition to that the fluorescence microscopy results demonstrated that SnO2/NiCo2O4 catalyst produces electrons on its surface that readily react with dissolved oxygen to form hydroxyl and superoxide radicals which responsible for bacterial cell damage.