A Comprehensive Study on Dual Functionality of MgCo₂O₄: Synthesized by Efficient Auto-combustion Method for Photocatalytic and Antibacterial Application

Nanoscience has emerged as a great solution for environmental and health issues. Materials with versatile application, economic and eco-benign accompanied with facile synthesis methods are an indispensable requirement for current society especially when we are on the verge of a chaos with intensified pollution and health issues. In the present work we report, for the first time, photocatalytic degradation of Methylene blue (MB) dye under tungsten bulb (TB) for water purification along with antibacterial properties of spinel MgCo2O4 (MgCo) synthesized by facile solution combustion method. The structural (XRD) and the morphological studies (SEM and TEM) show that the prepared sample is phase pure with crystalline nature and has a spongy morphology. FTIR, DRS and EDS analysis gave more insight about the prepared material. Further the photocatalytic degradation of MB under different light sources for different pH was studied which shows a percentage degradation of 96.73% in 90 min after the irradiation by tungsten bulb (500 Watts) for a catalyst dosage of 25mg. Additionally, the material exhibited excellent reusability, maintaining an efficiency of 94.2% even after five consecutive cycles. The antibacterial activity was tested against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, showing strong inhibition for all four tested strains, with the highest inhibition zone observed for Bacillus subtilis.