Effect of pH and Dye Concentration on the Photocatalytic Efficiency of Fe3O4 Nanoparticles Synthesized via Greener Route using Commiphora berryi and its Antibacterial Activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli

Abstract

Green synthesis of magnetite nanoparticles is extremely developing methodology because of its bio compatibility nature. In the present work, iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) were synthesized by simple Co-precipitation method with the use of Commiphora berryi plant exudates. The formed iron oxide nanoparticles were characterized by FTIR, XRD and SEM techniques. Photocatalytic activity of synthesized iron oxide nanoparticles was determined against Methylene blue (MB) dye in aqueous medium. Iron oxide nanoparticles acted as a photocatalyst and decompose the dye under solar irradiation. Results show that 73 % of degradation efficiency was attained after 150 minutes with a nanoparticle dosage 0.5 mg/L which makes the IONPs as potential applicant for various effluent treatment methods. Further the results indicate that the efficiency increases with increasing pH and decrease with increasing the MB dye dosage. Antimicrobial activity of IONPS was studied against E.coli and S. aureus. IONPs show excellent antibacterial activity for both the organisms; with 16.5 mm and 16.75 mm zone of inhibition respectively for E.coli and S. aureus.