Promising Antimicrobial and Azo Dye Removal Activities of Citric Acid-Functionalized Magnesium Ferrite Nanoparticles

In this study magnesium ferrite nanoparticles (MgFe2O4 NPs) were synthesized through an aqueous co-precipitation method and functionalized with citric acid (CA) for outstanding their antimicrobial potential and removal activity of azo dye. MgFe2O4 NPs and CA-MgFe2O4 NPs were characterized by XRD, HRTEM, SEM, EDX, FT-IR, and SEM/EDX mapping method to analyze crystallinity, average particle size, morphology, functional groups and elemental composition, respectively. Antimicrobial activity was investigated against pathogenic bacteria and yeast as zone of inhibition (ZOI) and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). Reaction mechanism using SEM/EDX analysis of CA-MgFe2O4 NPs-treated microbial cells was mentioned. The removal efficiency was tested against methyl orange (MO), and various parameters affecting the removal efficiency such as (pH on removal of MO, MO initial concentration, and CA-MgFe2O4 dose) were studied. Antimicrobial results showed that CA-MgFe2O4 NPs demonstrated maximum activities against S. aureus, E. coli, and C. albicans with ZOI of 20.0, 16.0, and 14.0 mm, respectively. Results obtained suggested that 0.1 g of CA-MgFe2O4 NPs achieved 85.0% removal of MO at pH 5.0.0, hence, it exhibited efficient dye removal and sufficient antimicrobial activities.

Automated summary

In this study, magnesium ferrite nanoparticles functionalized with citric acid (CA) showed excellent antimicrobial potential and removal activity of azo dye, achieving a high removal efficiency of 85% for methyl orange at pH 5.0. The CA-MgFe2O4 NPs exhibited strong antimicrobial activities against S. aureus, E. coli, and C. albicans, with zone of inhibition values of 20.0, 16.0, and 14.0 mm, respectively.