Synthesis and antimicrobial activity assessment of calcium and iron phosphate nanoparticles prepared by a facile and cost-effective method

Abstract

This article focuses on the influence of monetite calcium phosphate nanowhiskers (CaP) and iron phosphate produced by the chemical hydrothermal reflux method on the antibacterial and microbial properties. The two types of produced iron phosphate by reflux method are amorphous iron phosphate (A-FeP) and crystalline iron phosphate (C-FeP). The introduced materials are characterized using several techniques including field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The antimicrobial activities for different phosphates are evaluated against different types of bacteria involving gram-negative, gram-positive, and C. Albicans fungal pathogen. The inhibition zone of the growth of the selected pathogens for different concentrations for metal phosphates indicates the high efficiency of these phosphates against all used bacteria. However, their effectiveness against G-negative was more superior to that of G-positive, indicating good selectivity against Gram-negative bacteria. Moreover, C-FeP NPs showed a higher antimicrobial impact than that of A-FeP.