Facile synthesis of reduced graphene oxide-zirconium oxide/zinc oxide nanocomposites for effective antimicrobial and cytotoxic applications

In this study, reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was successfully synthesised and impregnated with ZrO₂-activated ZnO nanoparticles using facile chemical technique to obtain rGO-ZrO₂/ZnO nanocomposites for effective biomedical applications. Fourier transform infra-red and X-ray diffraction results were authorized the rGO-ZrO₂-ZnO nanocomposites formulation. Scanning electron micrographs showed wrinkled sheets integration of agglomerated spherical grains with hillocks and voids for rGO-ZrO₂/ZnO. UV–vis and photoluminescence spectral results proved the modulated electronic structure in the nanocomposites. An extensive investigation was done for synthesised rGO, ZnO, rGO-ZnO and rGO-ZrO₂/ZnO against human lung cancer (A549) cell lines. The exposed outcomes revealed the high cytotoxic behaviour against the cancer cell lines by the rGO-ZrO₂/ZnO nanocomposites. Moreover, the antimicrobial efficacy of rGO-ZrO₂/ZnO nanocomposites exhibited a potential bactericidal effect against S. aureus and E. coli organisms related to rGO-ZnO. Thus, the synthesised rGO-ZrO₂/ZnO nanocomposites depicted high, thermal stability and potential bactericidal properties which could be the possible candidate for effective biomedical applications.