Biological and electrochemical Sensor detection studies of ZrO2 wrapped by reduced Graphene Oxide nanocomposite

The present work reports synthesis of ZrO2 nanoparticles wrapped by reduced graphene doped (rGO) nanosheet through simple reflux method. The sample was characterized using XRD, FE-SEM, EDAX, FTIR, UV-Visible techniques. The optical bandgap was calculated using Tauc’s method and found to be ZrO2 and ZrO2/rGO are 1.47 and 1.25 eV, respectively. The prepared rGO/ZrO2 was established over anti-fungal, anticancer, and antioxidant studies. Anti-fungal activity against Penicillium sp. and Aspergillus Niger shows the enhanced zone of inhibition in both fungal species at increased concentration of ZrO2 and ZrO2/rGO samples. Penicillium sp. displays greater inhibition zones in both samples compared to Aspergillus Niger. The anticancer activity of ZrO2/rGO conjugated with doxorubicin exhibit comparable activity on HeLa cells. The sample shows 82% free radical scavenging activity using 2,2-diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical, with IC50 value of 31 mg/mL. The electrochemical techniques were assessed to know the capacitance and sensing performance against lysine sensor. There has been a significant improvement in electrochemical behavior such as specific capacitance (Csp), diffusion coefficient (D) and sensing behavior and shows better sensing properties using prepared material.