Photocatalytic and antibacterial activity of bismuth and copper co-doped cobalt ferrite nanoparticles

Herein we reported the photocatalytic and antibacterial activity of CoFe2O4, CoFe1.9Bi0.1O4 and Cu0.5Co0.5Fe1.9Bi0.1O4 nanoparticles obtained by solution combustion technique using glycine as a fuel. The obtained nanoparticles were analyzed by various techniques such as powder XRD, FTIR, UV-DRS and SEM-EDAX. The band gap value of CoFe2O4 nanoparticle is decreases gradually from 1.46 to 1.00 eV (CoFe1.9Bi0.1O4) and 0.85 eV (Cu0.5Co0.5Fe1.9Bi0.1O4) due to the doping of copper and bismuth. The photocatalytic activity of synthesized nanoparticles was evaluated for the degradation of congo red dye. 89 and 87% removal efficiency of congo red dye was achieved in 90 min under different light (UV and visible light) illumination utilizing 10 mg of Cu0.5Co0.5Fe1.9Bi0.1O4 catalyst. Antibacterial activity of the compounds was tested against two organisms Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli by well diffusion method. Co-doping of copper and bismuth improved the antibacterial activity against the organisms S. aureus (29 mm) and E. coli (34 mm) when compared to cobalt ferrite.