Antimicrobial, electrochemical and photo catalytic activities of Zn doped Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles

In the present study, we report the synthesis of Fe₃O₄ and Zn-doped Fe₃O₄ (Zn/Fe₃O₄) nanoparticles by a simple co-precipitation method. The morphology, structure and optical properties of the samples are characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, UV–visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy and UV–visible spectroscopy. The antibacterial, electrochemical energy storage and photocatalytic properties of the nanoparticles are studied in detail, and the results are discussed. Antibacterial activity of Fe₃O₄ and Zn/Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles are analyzed by disc diffusion method on Gram-negative pathogen Salmonella typhi and Gram-positive pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. Zn/Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles show a higher zone of inhibition because of having a larger specific surface area than the pure Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles. The electrochemical energy storage performances of the nanoparticles are tested in a symmetric two-electrode configuration, and the measurement demonstrated that Zn doping nearly doubles the energy storage properties of the Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles. The study of the photocatalytic degradation of methyl blue (MB) dye under UV irradiation in the presence of pure and doped Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles reveal that both nanoparticles act as ideal catalysts for degradation of MB dye.