Synthesis and characterization of SiO2 doped Fe2O3 nanoparticles: Photocatalytic and antimicrobial activity evaluation

Abstract

Silica doped iron oxide (SiO2 doped Fe2O3) nanoparticles (NPs) were successfully synthesized by co-precipitation method at 70 °C using different solvents (acetonitrile, n-hexane and isoamyl alcohol). The synthesized NPs were characterized by FT-IR, X-Ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), thermal gravimetric analysis-differential scanning calorimetry (TGA-DSC) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) techniques. The size of SiO2 doped Fe2O3 NPs was in the range of 5.89 nm–19.89 nm and ellipsoidal morphology with tendency of aggregate formation due to dipole-dipole interactions. The solvents showed variable effect on physico-chemical properties of the NPs. As-synthesized NPs were also evaluated for the antimicrobial activity against set of bacterial and fungal strains i.e., Candida parapsilosis, Aspergilus niger, Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli. It was observed that solvents also affected the NPs antimicrobial activity. The SiO2 doped Fe2O3 NPs prepared in acetonitrile showed highest antibacterial as well as antifungal activity. The MIC values were recorded to be 0.31 mg/L and 0.21 mg/L (acetonitrile) and 0.24 mg/L and 0.18 mg/L (isoamyl alcohol) for C. parapsilosis and A. niger, respectively. NPs prepared in n-hexane showed the MIC value of 0.09 mg/L. The photocaalytic activity (PCA) was evaluated by degrading Rhodamine B (RhB) dye. The RhB degradation was 83% for Fe2O3 NPs, which was enhanced considerably in case of doping, solvents also showed variable effect on the PCA for RhB dye degradation. Results revealed that the SiO2 doped Fe2O3 NPs are efficient antimicrobial agent as well as highly active photocatalysts and could possibly be used for the degradation of dyes in textile wastewater.