Green Synthesis of Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Mediated by Filamentous Fungi Isolated from Sundarban Mangrove Ecosystem, India

In the present study, biosynthesis of iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) was achieved using three manglicolous fungi, STSP10 (Trichoderma asperellum), STSP 19 (Phialemoniopsis ocularis) and STSP 27 (Fusarium incarnatum) isolated from estuarine mangrove sediment of Indian Sundarban. Synthesised IONPs were initially monitored by UV-Vis spectrophotometer and further characterised by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, which provides information regarding proteins and other organic residues involved with iron nanoparticle. The morphology of iron nanoparticle were found to be spherical with average particle size ranging between 25 +/- 3.94 nm for T. asperellum, 13.13 +/- 4.32 nm for P. ocularis and 30.56 +/- 8.68 nm for F. incarnatum, which were confirmed by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Energy-dispersive x-ray analysis (EDX) analysis was performed during FESEM study to confirm the presence of elemental Fe in the sample. X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern has shown that the IONPs are iron oxide in nature.