Eco-friendly synthesis of Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles using Eucalyptus globulus leaf extract with multifunctional photocatalytic, antioxidant and antibacterial activities.

Authors

Faiz Mahmood, Noman Nazeer, M M Rekha, Khalaf F Alsharif, Fuad M Alzahrani, Khalid J Alzahrani, Jaya Bansal, Huseyn Imanov, Lalita Chopra, Irwanjot Kaur, Sadridin Eshkaraev, Aseel Smerat, Ayesha Sanam, Muhammad Zulfiqah Sadikan

Published in

Frontiers in microbiology. Volume 17. Pages 1871774. Epub Jul 21, 2026.

Abstract

The green synthesis method was developed to manufacture of iron oxide nanoparticles using Eucalyptus globulus leaf extract as a reducing and stabilizing agent. Identification of Prepared Nanoparticles the identity of synthesized nanoparticles was unequivocally determined as α-Fe₂O₃ (hematite) from XRD analysis showing the rhombohedral crystal structure (JCPDS No: 33-0664); earlier drafts inconsistently referred to preparation as Fe3O4 and this has been changed throughout this manuscript for consistency. SEM, EDX, FTIR XRD and DLS were used to characterize the morphology, composition and structure of the nanoparticles. Particles on the other hand, had quasi-spherical morphology as well as relatively low average diameters (10.84 ± 5.22 nm) and high crystallinity. FTIR analysis validates the potential role of phytomolecules as capping and stabilizing agents. The photocatalytic experimental notation corrected: almost ~99% degradation of Rhodamine B dye under visible light irradiation (λ ≥ 420 nm) in 340 min pseudo-first-order kinetics (k = 0.0079 min^-1). Antioxidant activity of HDPC using DCFH-DA assay: DCFH-DA assay for the measurement of intracellular ROS was performed on the different concentrations (0, 0.1, 0.5, and 2 mg/ml) of EPE which confirmed a concentration-dependent reduction of intracellular ROS in HDPC with ~70% reduction in fluorescence at the highest delivery rate (0.5 mg/ml). The reduction in ROS observed was indicative of real antioxidant activity as cell viability (MTT assay) confirmed this effect to be non-cytotoxic. It exhibited pronounced antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 6633), with S. aureus being the most sensitive strain. MIC values: S. aureus 0.25 mg/ml; E. coli 0.50 mg/ml; B. subtilis 0.50 mg/ml. The green Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles exhibited multifunctional photocatalytic properties, as well as antioxidant and antibacterial activity, making them novel frontline agents for environmental remediation and biomedicine.

PMID:
42553355
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 05 Aug 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.