Effects of the Annealing Temperature on the Structure Evolution and Antifungal Performance of TiO2/Fe3O4 Nanocomposites Manufactured from Natural Sand

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of annealing temperature on the structure evolution and antifungal performance of TiO2/Fe3O4 nanocomposites. The TiO2/Fe3O4 nanocomposites were fabricated through a combination of sonochemical and coprecipitation routes. The TiO2 structure evolved from an amorphous phase to a crystalline anatase phase starting at an annealing temperature of [Formula: see text]C while Fe3O4 evolved to [Formula: see text]-Fe2O3 and [Formula: see text]-Fe2O3 starting at an annealing temperature of [Formula: see text]C. The increases in the crystallite sizes and lattice parameters were also identified because of the increase in the annealing temperature. The TiO2/Fe3O4 nanocomposites tended to agglomerate due to van der Waals forces. The molecular structural dynamics of TiO2/Fe3O4 nanocomposites were also studied by infrared spectroscopy within the wavenumber range of 400–4000[Formula: see text]cm[Formula: see text]. The antifungal activity of TiO2/Fe3O4 nanocomposites was better than those of individual TiO2 and Fe3O4. These results showed that structure evolution plays an essential role in the antifungal performance of TiO2/Fe3O4 nanocomposites.