Facile synthesis of BiOCl NPs for methylene blue removal, antibacterial with novel antifungal properties against Fusarium oxysporum, and enhanced germination of Solanum lycopersicum L. seeds

BiOCl has attracted significant attention due to its prospective applications in photocatalysis, clean energy utilization, environmental remediation, and biological applications. In recent years, researchers have conducted several experiments and various applications for significant advancements in the preparation and performance enhancement of BiOCl. In the present work, BiOCl nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized by the co-precipitation method. The prepared NPs were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and UV-Vis spectroscopy (UV-DRS), and morphological analysis was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and elemental analysis by EDAX and photoluminescence spectroscopy. XRD data of the synthesized NPs confirm the tetragonal structure of BiOCl NPs. Raman spectroscopy was used to identify the characteristic A1g and Eg vibrational normal modes of BiOCl NPs. UV-DRS shows the band gap of the material was found to be 3.54 eV. SEM reveals a spherical-like structure, and HR-TEM gives d-spacing values of 0.22 nm. About 98% of the methylene blue is decolored, according to the experimental data. Pathogenic bacterial strains Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were significantly inhibited by the MIC of BiOCl NPs. The test compound BiOCl NPs showed concentration-dependent mean ZOI against Fusarium oxysporum (ATCC 62506) at various concentrations of 200, 100, and 50 mg/mL was 19.7, 9.5, and 4.3 mm, respectively. While the positive control Ketoconazole showed concentration-dependent mean ZOI against F. oxysporum (ATCC 62506), concentrations 4, 2, and 1 mu g/mL were 46.6, 33.8, and 9.3 mm, respectively. BiOCl NPs show novelty in seed germination at a concentration of 5 mg/mL of seed coated with BiOCl. Numerous fungal pathogens that harm tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum L.) yield output both qualitatively and quantitatively. Additionally, BiOCl NPs potentially have novel properties because their synthesis is simple and eco-friendly.