Green synthesis of magnetic Fe3O4 nanoflakes using vegetables extracts and their magnetic, structural and antibacterial properties evaluation

Abstract

Abstract In view of ecobenign nature of green synthesis, iron oxide (Fe3O4) nanoflakes are synthesized via a green route. Three different vegetables (spinach, broccoli and pumpkin) extracts were used for the synthesis of Fe3O4 nanoflakes. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses confirm the formation of face centered cubic Fe3O4, while SEM analysis revealed the formation of nanoflakes. FTIR also confirm the Fe–O bands at 478 and 590 (cm−1) and the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) was observed at 280 nm. The magnetic properties were also investigated and Fe3O4 prepared using spinach extract shows relatively low saturation magnetization (Ms) of ∼66 emu/g as compared to pumpkin (105 emu/g) and broccoli (130 emu/g) with ∼25Oe coercivity value. The antibacterial activity of Fe3O4 nanoflakes was studied against Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and a highly promising antibacterial activity was observed. Results revealed that the Fe3O4 nanoflakes prepared via a green route could have potential applications in biomedical field.