Designing intimate porous Al2O3 decorated 2D CdO nano-heterojunction as enhanced white light driven photocatalyst and antibacterial agent

•Mesoporous γ-Al2O3 coupled 2D hexagonal CdO nanoplates as photocatalyst•Prepared using ultrasonic assisted method with good crystallinity•Tailored bandgap energy of CdO/Al2O3 was 2.95 eV with visible light sensitization•Photodegradation of synthetic cationic dye followed first order kinetics•The particles exhibited excellent antibacterial activity