Tailoring of optical, biological and magnetic properties of nanocrystalline Fe doped TiO2 thin films

Abstract

Fe doped TiO2 films were synthesized by sol–gel dip coating method. The concentration of Fe3+ was varied as 1%–5% (w/w) in TiO2. X-ray diffraction showed dominating rutile phase of TiO2 along with brookite phase and hematite Fe2O3 phase. The content of the rutile phase varies depending on the Fe doping percentage. The high iron doping reduced the band gap and restrained the growth of TiO2 crystallite. All films are ferromagnetic (FM) but the films with low Fe doping percentage have a good crystallinity and a strong ferro-magnetism. Although the Fe doping has not changed the crystal structure of TiO2, but had affected its photo-catalytic and antibacterial properties. The bacteria E. coli were more vulnerable to Iron doped TiO2 when compared to the bacteria Pseudomonas. 3% Fe doped TiO2 had the best photo-catalytic activity. Fe doped TiO2 can act as a remarkable antibacterial entity against microorganisms to save from bacterial infections.