The leather industry is a key contributor to the country’s economy but faces serious concerns about surface protection from microbial contamination. Various chemical methods are being applied to leather surface processing but they often release topic compounds dangerous for human body. Nanoparticles endowed with antimicrobial properties are proved to be an efficient approach for leather protection. The current study provides eco-friendly approach for synthesis and characterization of citric acid-coated magnetite nanoparticles, examining their potential antimicrobial agent within the leather industry. Magnetite nanoparticles (Fe3O4) were synthesized via aqueous co-precipitation method, subsequently functionalized with citric acid and characterized through UV-visible spectroscopy, FTIR, SEM-EDAX, and XRD. The antimicrobial activity against pathogenic bacteria and fungi was evaluated through agar well-diffusion method, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), and biofilm inhibition. All the results were statistically calculated through one-way ANOVA. UV-visible spectroscopy showed peak for Fe3O4 NPs at 280 nm while for Fe3O4@CA at 310 nm. The FTIR spectrum showed various distinct peaks at 3211.48, 1579.70, 1409.96, 1344.38, 1018.41, and 675.09 cm−1 and SEM-EDAX revealed semi-spherical morphology of nanoparticles with average particle size 40 nm. The XRD graph showed peaks at 2Ɵ of 27.2o, 35.7o, 47.1o, 57.0o and 60.8o which intimated to the crystal plane of (220), (311), (400), (511) and (440), respectively. The distinct zones of inhibition were observed against these pathogenic strains i.e. and Escherichia coli (ATCC 15597) (27 ± 0.9 mm), followed by Aspergillus niger (23 ± 0.2 mm) and Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923) (22 ± 0.7 mm). Results of MIC i.e. 0.3 mg/mL for bacterial strains and 0.625 mg/mL for fungal strains were the least concentration of inhibition while biofilm inhibition with no visible growth in Fe3O4@CA containing samples, revealed the excellent antimicrobial potential of Fe3O4@CA nanoparticles. These findings suggest an effective method for synthesizing Fe3O4@CA nanoparticles, whose antimicrobial properties will be advantageous for protecting leather material from various microbial contaminations.

Potent antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity of citric acid coated magnetite nanoparticles for leather preservation

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2025年7月31日

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Amina Hayat,
Asma Irshad,
Uzair Ishtiaq,
Qudsia Mushtaq,
Alexis Spalletta,
Patrick Martin,
Rabbia Jawad,
Tahira Batool

摘要

The leather industry is a key contributor to the country’s economy but faces serious concerns about surface protection from microbial contamination. Various chemical methods are being applied to leather surface processing but they often release topic compounds dangerous for human body. Nanoparticles endowed with antimicrobial properties are proved to be an efficient approach for leather protection. The current study provides eco-friendly approach for synthesis and characterization of citric acid-coated magnetite nanoparticles, examining their potential antimicrobial agent within the leather industry. Magnetite nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄) were synthesized via aqueous co-precipitation method, subsequently functionalized with citric acid and characterized through UV-visible spectroscopy, FTIR, SEM-EDAX, and XRD. The antimicrobial activity against pathogenic bacteria and fungi was evaluated through agar well-diffusion method, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), and biofilm inhibition. All the results were statistically calculated through one-way ANOVA. UV-visible spectroscopy showed peak for Fe₃O₄ NPs at 280 nm while for Fe₃O₄@CA at 310 nm. The FTIR spectrum showed various distinct peaks at 3211.48, 1579.70, 1409.96, 1344.38, 1018.41, and 675.09 cm⁻¹ and SEM-EDAX revealed semi-spherical morphology of nanoparticles with average particle size 40 nm. The XRD graph showed peaks at 2Ɵ of 27.2^o, 35.7^o, 47.1^o, 57.0^o and 60.8^o which intimated to the crystal plane of (220), (311), (400), (511) and (440), respectively. The distinct zones of inhibition were observed against these pathogenic strains i.e. and Escherichia coli (ATCC 15597) (27 ± 0.9 mm), followed by Aspergillus niger (23 ± 0.2 mm) and Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923) (22 ± 0.7 mm). Results of MIC i.e. 0.3 mg/mL for bacterial strains and 0.625 mg/mL for fungal strains were the least concentration of inhibition while biofilm inhibition with no visible growth in Fe₃O₄@CA containing samples, revealed the excellent antimicrobial potential of Fe₃O₄@CA nanoparticles. These findings suggest an effective method for synthesizing Fe₃O₄@CA nanoparticles, whose antimicrobial properties will be advantageous for protecting leather material from various microbial contaminations.