Green Synthesis of Fe2O3 Nanoparticles from Orange Peel Extract and a Study of Its Antibacterial Activity

An eco-friendly and economical, green synthesis method has been employed for the synthesis of iron-oxide (Fe2O3) nanoparticles by using orange peel extract as a stabilizing agent. The thermody-namic properties were evaluated using thermogravimetric analysis-diffraction scanning calorimetry (TGA-DSC), the formation of Fe2O3 nanoparticles was confirmed using fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR), X-Ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX) spectroscopy. The hydrodynamic diameter was observed using a dynamic laser scattering-particle size analyser (DLS-PSA). The green synthesized nanoparticles were used to evaluate their antibacterial activity via the agar well diffusion method against gram positive (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureusb) and gram negative (Escherichia coli., Pseudomonas aeruginosa) bacteria while keeping benzalkonium chloride, chlorhexidine, hexachlorophene and phenol as controls.