Synthesis and characterization of hetero-metal oxide nano-hybrid composite on pectin scaffold

Hetero-metal oxides play a vital role in the development of electrochemical sensors, energy storage devices etc., based on their electro-catalytic activity. To get better efficiency, agglomeration of the hetero-metal oxides has to be prevented. Moreover, the synergistic reinforcement of the properties of the metal oxides result in efficient shuttling of electrons at the hetero-metal oxide/liquid interface for sensing applications. In the current work a novel strategy is proposed which focuses on the growth of Copper oxide and Iron oxide nanoparticles on Pectina carbohydrate polymer scaffold. Copper oxide nano-particles and iron oxide nano-particles were synthesized by co-precipitation method. Both were ultrasonicated separately and were added to the acid extract of musk melon (Cucumis melo) peels, which is the source of pectin. The solution was heated and sonicated for 6 h and extracted with alcohol by solvent casting method. The blending of both metal oxides with pectin was uniform since the process occurs along with the formation of pectin. It was observed that the hetero-metal oxides disperse well in pectin with reduction in particle size where pectin acts as a scaffold by which the metal oxide nano-particles bind via the - OH linkage. The metal oxide nano-particles and hetero-metal oxide hybrid nanocomposite were characterized by SEM, EDX, UV-Visible, FT-IR, Raman, and XRD studies. The electrocatalytic activity was tested with cyclic voltammetric studies with potassium ferricyanide as the standard and it was observed that pectin scaffolded hetero-metal oxide composite has high electrocatalytic activity.