Tailoring of optical, biological and magnetic properties of nanocrystalline Fe doped TiO<sub>2</sub> thin films
Zohra Nazir Kayani, Iqra Wahid, Zeb Saddiqe, Saira Riaz, Salma Waseem, Shahzad Naseem
Abstract
Fe doped TiO 2 films were synthesized by sol–gel dip coating method. The concentration of Fe 3+ was varied as 1%–5% (w/w) in TiO 2 . X-ray diffraction showed dominating rutile phase of TiO 2 along with brookite phase and hematite Fe 2 O 3 phase. The content of the rutile phase varies depending on the Fe doping percentage. The high iron doping reduced the band gap and restrained the growth of TiO 2 crystallite. All films are ferromagnetic (FM) but the films with low Fe doping percentage have a good crystallinity and a strong ferro-magnetism. Although the Fe doping has not changed the crystal structure of TiO 2 , but had affected its photo-catalytic and antibacterial properties. The bacteria E. coli were more vulnerable to Iron doped TiO 2 when compared to the bacteria Pseudomonas. 3% Fe doped TiO 2 had the best photo-catalytic activity. Fe doped TiO 2 can act as a remarkable antibacterial entity against microorganisms to save from bacterial infections.