Effect of Zinc Substitution on Microstructure and Antibacterial Properties of Cobalt Ferrite Nanopowders Synthesized by Sol-gel Methods

摘要

Zinc substituted cobalt ferrite nanopowders with the general formula Co_(1-x)Zn_xFe_2O_4(with x = 0, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, and 1) were prepared via the sol-gel route using citric acid as a chelating agent. The influence of zinc concentration on the microstructure, crystal structure and antibacterial property of zinc substituted cobalt ferrite nanopowders has been systematically investigated. The microstructure and elemental composition were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), respectively. Phase analysis of cobalt ferrite nanopowders was performed using X-ray diffractometry (XRD). The antibacterial properties of zinc substituted cobalt ferrite nanopowders were investigated. The results indicate that the substitution of zinc influences strongly the microstructure, crystal structure and antibacterial property of the cobalt ferrite nanopowders.