Mycosynthesis of Hematite (α-Fe2O3) Nanoparticles Using Aspergillus niger and Their Antimicrobial and Photocatalytic Activities

Ebrahim Saied; Salem S Salem; Abdulaziz A Al-Askar; Fathy M Elkady; Amr A Arishi; Amr H Hashem

doi:10.3390/bioengineering9080397

Mycosynthesis of Hematite (α-Fe₂O₃) Nanoparticles Using Aspergillus niger and Their Antimicrobial and Photocatalytic Activities

Bioengineering (Basel). 2022 Aug 17;9(8):397. doi: 10.3390/bioengineering9080397.

Authors

Ebrahim Saied¹, Salem S Salem¹, Abdulaziz A Al-Askar², Fathy M Elkady³, Amr A Arishi⁴, Amr H Hashem¹

Affiliations

¹ Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Nasr City 11884, Egypt.
² Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 12372, Saudi Arabia.
³ Microbiology and Immunology Department, Faculty of Pharmacy (Boys), Al-Azhar University, Nasr City 11884, Egypt.
⁴ School of Molecular Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009, Australia.

Abstract

Nanoparticles (NPs) and nanomaterials (NMs) are now widely used in a variety of applications, including medicine, solar energy, drug delivery, water treatment, and pollution detection. Hematite (α-Fe₂O₃) nanoparticles (Hem-NPs) were manufactured in this work by utilizing a cost-effective and ecofriendly approach that included a biomass filtrate of A. niger AH1 as a bio-reducer. The structural and optical properties of Hem-NPs were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and UV-visible and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopies. The results revealed that all of the studied parameters, as well as their interactions, had a significant impact on the crystallite size. The average diameter size of the biosynthesized Hem-NPs ranged between 60 and 80 nm. The antimicrobial and photocatalytic activities of Hem-NPs were investigated. The antimicrobial results of Hem-NPs revealed that Hem-NPs exhibited antibacterial activity against E. coli, B. subtilis, and S. mutans with MICs of 125, 31.25, and 15.62 µg/mL, respectively. Moreover, Hem-NPs exhibited antifungal activity against C. albicans and A. fumigatus, where the MICs were 2000 and 62.5 µg/mL, respectively. The efficiency of biosynthesized Hem-NPs was determined for the rapid biodegradation of crystal violet (CV) dye, reaching up to 97 percent after 150 min. Furthermore, Hem-NPs were successfully used more than once for biodegradation and that was regarded as its efficacy. In conclusion, Hem-NPs were successfully biosynthesized using A. niger AH1 and demonstrated both antimicrobial activity and photocatalytic activity against CV dye.

Keywords: antimicrobial activity; hematite (α-Fe2O3); iron oxide nanoparticles; photocatalytic activity.

Grants and funding

The authors extend their appreciation to the Researcher Supporting Project (number RSP2022R505), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for funding this work.