Photocatalysis of nanocomposite titania–natural silica as antibacterial against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The entries of pathogenic bacteria into the human body remain a severe problem to health that can be prevented using antibacterial agents. Meanwhile, the photocatalytic technique using semiconductor nanocomposite TiO(2)–SiO(2) has great potential as an antibacterial method. In order to utilize natural resources, SiO(2) supporting materials are obtained from the extraction of beach sand due to the high silica content. Therefore, this study aims to synthesize a nanocomposite of TiO(2) with SiO(2) extracted from beach sand as an antibacterial agent against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The antibacterial activity test used the dilution and optical density method. Based on XRD analysis, the crystals of TiO(2) in the synthesized composites showed a more dominant anatase structure. Furthermore, Ti–O–Si bonds were identified from the IR spectrum, which showed the interaction between TiO(2) and SiO(2). In addition, SEM-EDX results showed agglomerated spherical particles with a TiO(2)–SiO(2) nanocomposite particle size of 40–107 nm. The best antibacterial activity was demonstrated by the 1 : 0.5 TiO(2)–SiO(2) nanocomposite, with inactivation percentages of S. aureus and P. aeruginosa of 98.69% and 97.44%, respectively.