Radiation shielding, photoluminescence and antimicrobial properties of Magnesium ferrite synthesized [formula omitted] low temperature solution combustion method

Abstract

The present communication focuses on the synthesis, characterization of MgFe2O4 (MFO) nanoparticles (NPs) for various applications. The MFO NPs was synthesized by using solution combustion method using urea as a fuel and calcined at 500 °C. To know the phase purity, functional group, surface morphology, structural analysis and energy band gap, the synthesized sample was characterized by using the techniques such as powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transmission infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and UV–Visible spectrophotometer. The Bragg’s reflection of PXRD confirms the formation of monophasic cubic MFO NPs with Fd−3m space group. The direct energy band gap calculated using Tauc’s relation is found to be 3.1 eV. Further, the X-ray/gamma ray shielding properties of MFO NPs in the energy range 0.081–1.332 MeV using NaI (Tl) detector and multi channel analyser (MCA) were measured. The measured shielding parameters are compared with the theory. Above 400 keV energy of X-ray/gamma ray, the measured shielding parameters agrees well with the theory, whereas slight deviation is observed below 400 keV. This deviation is mainly due to the influence of atomic size of the target medium. Hence, we can conclude that an accurate theory is necessary to explain the interaction of X-ray/gamma with the nano size atoms. The photoluminescence emission spectra consists of peaks at 447, 540 and 627 nm. The CIE and CCT coordinates clearly confirms that the present nanophosphor might find applications in display/cool white light LEDs. Furthermore, antimicrobial activity of synthesized MFO nano-particles are also studied. Viability test was conducted on two food borne pathogens such as Bacilluscereus and Pseudomonasaeruginosa. The material showed poor antimicrobial activity compared to streptomycin. Thus MFO material may unfold new prospects in the fields like shielding of X-ray/gamma ray and display applications but not a good antimicrobial agent.