Preparation of Antimicrobial Iron Oxide Nanostructures from Galvanizning Effluent

Galvanization is the process of applying a protective zinc coating to iron or steel to prevent rusting. In the batch hot-dip galvanizing process, large amounts of wastes originate in liquid, solid and gaseous forms. Acidic waste containing iron and zinc ions is produced due to the cleaning of steel prior to zinc coating, which is considered the galvanizing acid waste. The galvanizing effluent used was collected from LTL Galvanizers Pvt. Ltd., Sapugaskanda, Sri Lanka, and converted into antimicrobial hematite (α-Fe 2 O 3 ) nanoparticles. These nanoparticles were synthesized using a chemical precipitation method. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize the nanomaterials produced. Two pathogenic bacteria and one pathogenic fungus were used to analyze the antimicrobial activity of the nanomaterials. All from a galvanizing effluent.