Starch and polyacrylic acid doped tin ferrite nanocubes for catalytic, water oxidation, and antimicrobial activities inhibiting DNA gyrase with molecular docking

Abstract

The textile sector poses global pollution through the discharge of organic dyes and antibiotic-resistant pathogens present in the environment have a significant impact on the quality of water resources. The present work demonstrates different concentrations (2 and 4 wt%) of starch (St) and a fixed amount of polyacrylic acid (PAA) doped tin ferrite (SnFe₂O₄) nanocubes (NCs) prepared by co-precipitation route. The proposed approach has the potential to degrade rhodamine B (RhB) dye, oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity, and resist the growth of Gram-negative multiple drug resistant (MDR) Escherichia coli (E. coli), contributing to environmental remediation. XRD showed the multiple phases of SnFe₂O₄ and crystallite size significantly increased from 35.79 to 42.09 nm, with the addition of dopants. TEM images revealed the cube-like structural morphology of SnFe₂O₄ and doped samples exhibited the agglomerated NCs. The catalytic performance of 4 % St/PAA-SnFe₂O₄ NCs towards Rhodamine B (RhB) was 73.33 % in a neutral medium. The better OER performance of 4 % St/PAA-SnFe₂O₄ is attributed to lower overpotential, Tafel slope, and charge transfer resistance. Moreover, the highly doped sample highlighted strong bactericidal effectiveness for resistant Escherichia coli (E. coli) by showing a 6.45 ± 0.02 mm inhibition zone.