Oxygen vacancies engineering of ternary Co₃O₄/rGO/PANI composite for environmental and biomedical applications

This study provides a straightforward method of hydrothermal and in situ polymerization methods for producing cobalt oxide combined with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and polyaniline nanofibers at room temperature. Under sun radiation, photocatalyst degradation of methylene blue (MB), methyl orange (MO) and rhodamine B (RhB) dye by (Co₃O₄/rGO)/PANI (40%:60%) was 99.986%, 99.991%, and 99.982%, respectively. Transient photocurrent response tests and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) confirmed improved charge carrier separation and photocatalytic efficiency. The inhibitory effectiveness of (Co₃O₄/rGO)/PANI (40%:60%) composite was found the highest than other composites. E. coli was the most vulnerable as the inhibition zone of the (Co₃O₄/rGO)/PANI (40%:60%) composite against E. coli found 22 ± 1.57 mm. When tested against popular antibiotics such as Ceftriaxone, CGP3 showed more powerful antibacterial action against E. coli. This research showed that (Co₃O₄/rGO)/PANI (40%:60%) composite could be used in biological and environmental applications.