AUTHOR=Ikram Muhammad , Atiq Iram , Rafiq Butt Alvina , shahzadi Iram , Ul-Hamid Anwar , Haider Ali , Nabgan Walid , Medina Francisco 

TITLE=Graphene oxide/polyvinylpyrrolidone-doped MoO3 nanocomposites used for dye degradation and their antibacterial activity: a molecular docking analysis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Chemistry

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2023.1191849

DOI=10.3389/fchem.2023.1191849

ISSN=2296-2646

ABSTRACT=<p>In this study, MoO<sub>3</sub> nanostructures were prepared, doped with various concentrations of graphene oxide (2 and 4% GO) and a fixed amount of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) using the co-precipitation method. The motive of this study was to examine the catalytic and antimicrobial efficacy with evidential molecular docking analyses of GO/PVP-doped MoO<sub>3</sub>. GO and PVP were utilized as doping agents to reduce the exciton recombination rate of MoO<sub>3</sub> by providing more active sites that increase the antibacterial activity of MoO<sub>3</sub>. The prepared binary dopant (GO and PVP)-dependent MoO<sub>3</sub> was used as an effective antibacterial agent against <italic>Escherichia coli</italic> (<italic>E. coli</italic>). Notably, 4% GO/PVP-doped MoO<sub>3</sub> showed good bactericidal potential against <italic>E. coli</italic> at higher concentrations in comparison to ciprofloxacin. Furthermore, <italic>in silico</italic> docking revealed the possible inhibitory impact of the synthesized nanocomposites on folate and fatty acid synthesis enzymes, dihydrofolate reductase and enoyl-[acyl carrier protein] reductase, respectively.</p>