Dragon's blood-aided synthesis of Ag/Ag2O core/shell nanostructures and Ag/Ag2O decked multi-layered graphene for efficient As(iii) uptake from water and antibacterial activity

Abstract

There has been a great interest to engineer surface characteristics of nanomaterials that are useful for various environmental applications. In this context, synthesis of nanomaterials using green methods is of great significance. Herein, new, easy, rapid and environmentally benign synthesis protocols to obtain Ag/Ag₂O core/shell and Ag/Ag₂O decorated multi-layered graphene (MLG) nanostructures are reported. The end products are obtained with the aid of “Dragon's blood”, a resin extracted from the bark of the mysterious tree, Dracaena cinnabari. Dragon's blood has a variety of antioxidant flavonoids and tannins, amongst many other constituents, which act as reducing and stabilizing agents. Ag/Ag₂O core/shell and Ag/Ag₂O decorated MLG nanostructures exhibited excellent adsorption characteristics in removing arsenite (As(III)) ions from water. The nanostructures also showed strong activity against E. coli and S. aureus bacteria.