Preparation, characterization and an efficient photocatalytic activity of Au/TiO2 nanocomposite prepared by green deposition method

The gold decorated titanium dioxide (Au/TiO2) nanocomposite was synthesized by a novel and ecofriendly green deposition method using phytochemicals from the aqueous extract of Ranunculus muricatus. The prepared nanomaterials were characterized by XRD, HRTEM, SEM and FT-IR techniques. The resulted nanomaterials were tested for photo inhibition of S. aureus and E. coli. The light irradiated Au/TiO2 exhibited significant photo inhibition efficiency against S. aureus 22(±0.6 mm) and E. coli 16(±0.4 mm) than in dark. The promising photocatalytic activity of the nanocomposite may be attributed to the highly decorated AuNPs over the surface of TiO2.