10.57647/jnsc.2025.1505.20

Catalytic and Antibacterial Activities with Molecular Docking Analysis of Chitosan and Polyethylene Glycol-NiO2 Nanostructures

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  • Muhammad Imran1,
  • Iram Shahzadi2,
  • Ali Haider3,
  • Mudassir Hassan4,
  • Anwar Ul-Hamid5,
  • Waseem Safdar6,
  • Junaid Haider6,
  • Muhammad Ikram*4,
  1. Interdisciplinary Research Center for Hydrogen Technologies and Carbon Management (IRC-HTCM), King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia
  2. School of Pharmacy, University of Management and Technology, Lahore 54770, Pakistan
  3. Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Muhammad Nawaz Shareef, University of Agriculture, Multan 66000, Punjab, Pakistan
  4. Solar Cell Applications Research Lab, Department of Physics, Government College University Lahore, Lahore 54000, Punjab, Pakistan
  5. Core Research Facilities, Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia
  6. Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Medical Sciences, Rawalpindi 46000, Pakistan

Received: 11-08-2025

Revised: 09-09-2025

Accepted: 19-09-2025

Published in Issue 17-10-2025

Copyright (c) 2025 Muhammad Imran, Iram Shahzadi, Ali Haider, Mudassir Hassan, Anwar Ul-Hamid, Waseem Safdar, Junaid Haider, Muhammad Ikram (Author)

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Imran, M., Shahzadi, I., Haider, A., Hassan, M., Ul-Hamid, A., Safdar, W., Haider, J., & Ikram, M. (2025). Catalytic and Antibacterial Activities with Molecular Docking Analysis of Chitosan and Polyethylene Glycol-NiO2 Nanostructures. Journal of Nanostructure in Chemistry, 15(5 (October 2025). https://doi.org/10.57647/jnsc.2025.1505.20
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Abstract

Toxic dyes and microbes in water have an alarming effect on the integrity of the environment and dairy industries. In this study, 2 and 4 % of chitosan (CS) and 3 % of polyethylene glycol (PEG) were incorporated to nickel oxide (NiO2) nanostructures (NSs) to degrade dyes and to kill bacteria effectively, synthesized via the low-temperature co-precipitation technique. The motive of the research is to enhance catalytic and antimicrobial properties through surface modification and the generation of more active sites upon incorporation of dopants. X-ray crystallographic patterns confirm the hexagonal crystal structure of NiO2 and a reduction in crystallite size with doping. The band gap energy of NiO2 increases from 3.17 to 3.25 eV upon doping. TEM elucidates the formation of an interconnected network of nanorods and nanoparticles with reduced agglomeration upon PEG and CS addition. Doping controlled the morphology and charge recombination dynamics of NiO2, which significantly boosts the catalytic and antibacterial potential. Particle size of the NiO2 nanostructures decreases from 34.7 to 24.53 nm with the addition of dopants. Notably, the highly doped sample exhibited maximum RhB degradation of 92.3 % in neutral medium and maximum inhibition zone of 5.25±0.03 mm against gram-negative multiple drug-resistant Escherichia coli (MDR E. coli) (p<0.05). The computational results correspond with observational data, providing compelling support for the microbial efficacy of CS/PEG-NiO2 in suppressing DNA gyrase.

Keywords

  • Chitosan,
  • Antimicrobial,
  • Dye degradation,
  • Nanostructures
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