Study of the Structural Properties of Fe2O3 Nanoparticles Synthesis with the Assistance of Different Plant Extracts and their Microbial Activity

Abstract

This work synthesizes iron oxide nanoparticles using plant extracts of Camellia sinensis, Matricaria chamomilla L., and Artemisia herba-alba Asso. and Punica granatum L. peel. with an evaluation of its antimicrobial activity. Fe2O3 nanoparticles (NPs) are highly stable and significantly affect gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. The synthesized Fe2O3 nanoparticles were examined using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), zeta potential (ZP), and UV–Vis spectrophotometer analysis (UV–Vis). The band gap ranged between 3.1[Formula: see text]eV and 3.8[Formula: see text]eV, which corresponds to the grain size, as its value ranged between 10.77[Formula: see text]nm and 32.31[Formula: see text]nm, that is, the smaller the grain size, the higher the band gap. On bacteria, iron oxide nanoparticles have remarkable efficacy in the formation of biofilms for gram-positive, gram-negative bacteria, and fungal.