Efficient catalytic and antimicrobial activity of polyvinylpyrrolidone-capped silver oxide with molecular docking analysis

In this study, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-capped silver oxide (AgO) nanostructures were synthesized with co-precipitation method. The presence of silver nanoparticles in AgO makes them unstable because of high surface energy and tends to agglomerate. This research aims to synthesize less toxic, cost-effective AgO nanoparticles and modify the surface properties with polymer doping. Monoclinic structure of AgO was confirmed through XRD analysis and no structure change was observed with PVP. With dopant, bandgap energy (Eg) was decreased from 3.04 to 2.95 eV. PVP-modified AgO nanostructure showed maximum degradation of RhB dye in neutral media with an efficacy of 81.44 % and significant antimicrobial zones (7.45 ± 0.04–9.75 ± 0.02) against S. aureus in maximum concentrations. Molecular docking validated the inhibitory impact of PVP-AgO articulating their bactericide influence for DNA gyrase and tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase in S. aureus.