Antioxidant, Anti-Bacterial, and Congo Red Dye Degradation Activity of Ag(x)O-Decorated Mustard Oil-Derived rGO Nanocomposites

Scaling up the production of functional reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and its composites requires the use of low-cost, simple, and sustainable synthesis methods, and renewable feedstocks. In this study, silver oxide-decorated rGO (Ag(x)O−rGO) composites were prepared by open-air combustion of mustard oil, essential oil-containing cooking oil commercially produced from the seeds of Brassica juncea. Silver oxide (Ag(x)O) nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized using Coleus aromaticus leaf extract as a reducing agent. Formation of mustard seed rGO and Ag(x)O NPs was confirmed by UV-visible characteristic peaks at 258 nm and 444 nm, respectively. rGO had a flake-like morphology and a crystalline structure, with Raman spectra showing clear D and G bands with an I(D)/I(G) ratio of 0.992, confirming the fewer defects in the as-prepared mustard oil-derived rGO (M−rGO). The rGO-Ag(x)O composite showed a degradation efficiency of 81.9% with a rate constant k(−1) of 0.9506 min(−1) for the sodium salt of benzidinediazo-bis-1-naphthylamine-4-sulfonic acid (known as the azo dye Congo Red) in an aqueous solution under visible light irradiation. The composite also showed some antimicrobial activity against Klebsilla pneomoniae, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus bacterial cells, with inhibition zones of ~15, 18, and 14 mm, respectively, for a concentration of 300 µg/mL. At 600 µg/mL concentration, the composite also showed moderate scavenging activity for 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl of ~30.6%, with significantly lower activities measured for Ag(x)O (at ~18.1%) and rGO (~8%) when compared to control.