Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 469 (2019) 691–697

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Journal of Magnetism and

Magnetic Materials
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jmmm

Research articles

Study of structural, morphological and magnetic properties of Ag substituted T

cobalt ferrite nanoparticles prepared by honey assisted combustion method
and evaluation of their antibacterial activity
b,⁎ c,⁎ d,⁎
M.K. Satheeshkumara, E. Ranjith Kumar , Ch. Srinivas , N. Suriyanarayanan , M.
c e e f
Deepty , C.L. Prajapat , T.V. Chandrasekhar Rao , D.L. Sastry
a
Department of Physics, SriGuru Institute of Technology, Coimbatore 641110, Tamil Nadu, India
b
Department of Physics, Dr. N.G.P. Institute of Technology, Coimbatore 641048, Tamil Nadu, India
c
Department of Physics, Sasi Institute of Technology & Engineering, Tadepalligudem 534101, Andhra Pradesh, India
d
Department of Physics, Government College of Technology, Coimbatore 641 013, Tamil Nadu, India
e
Technical Physics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, Maharashtra, India
f
Department of Physics, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam 530 003, Andhra Pradesh, India
CoFe2O4. The present cobalt ferrite nanoparticles and Ag doped cobalt ferrite
nanoparticles have shown good antibacterial activities. But Ag doped cobalt ferrite
nanoparticles seems to be the potential can didates for effective antibacterial
ARTICLE INFO
activity. The structural and magnetic results along with the results of an tibacterial
activities are reported in the present manuscript.
Keywords:
Nanoparticles
Honey assisted synthesis Structural analysis
Magnetic properties 1. Introduction

ferrite NPs. But honey assisted combustion route has been believed to
ABSTRACT
be reliable to synthesize ultrafine ferrite NPs with narrow size dis
In recent years, the research towards the magnetic NPs is of
Pure and Ag substituted cobalt ferrite nanoparticles (NPs) having the composition
growing interest due to their potential utility in biomedicine applications.
(1−x)CoFe2O4: xAg (x = 0.0, 0.2) were synthesized by a novel honey assisted
combustion method in order to investigate their structural and magnetic properties The functionalization of ferrite NPs can be found in a wide variety of ap
along with their antibacterial activity. XRD patters confirm the spinel phase of plications including biomedical applications like targeted drug de livery,
CoFe2O4 and the presence of silver (Ag) nanoparticles in the spinel network. The cancer treatment through hyperthermia, magnetic resonance imaging,
incorporation of Ag in CoFe 2O4 spinel structure enhanced the size of the unit cell, etc. [1–3]. The physical properties of ferrite nanoparticles are very
resulting to higher value of lattice parameter (a) compared to the pure CoFe2O4. important to find the suitability for application. These properties are
The sintering process promoted the growth of the crystallite sizes (D). The mainly structure sensitive like the size and shape of the NPs as well as
crystallite sizes of the synthesized and annealed powders were found in the range processing conditions adopted for the preparation of ferrite nano
of 24–41 nm. From the EDX studies, it seemed that the distribution of Ag particles. Therefore, to attain definite recital, different wet chemical
nanoparticles was non-uniform. The saturation magnetization (Ms) and coercivity methods as well as physical methods have been reported to produce
(Hc) of the powders were influenced by annealing as well as with the substitution
of Ag. The highest value of saturation magnetization (60 emu/g) was obtained by
the CoFe2O4 nanoparticles with the coercivity value 1358 Oe. The saturation ⁎
Corresponding authors.
magnetization and coercivity of Ag doped CoFe 2O4 were less than that of pure
 tribution [4,5]. Therefore, honey assisted combustion method has been
adopted to prepare un-doped and Ag doped cobalt ferrite NPs. Even
now, the fundamental research on spinel nanoparticles has been
explored due to their versatile utility as photo catalysts in waste water
treatment as well as for their antibacterial activities. Bacterial microbes
E. Coli, S. Auresus can be frequently found in waste water, flood water
that are responsible for skin diseases. In particular, Candide microbe
species are the human effective microorganisms causing in fections to
nails, skin and mucosal surfaces. Silver (Ag) is a well-known chemical
agent which can affectively useful for antibacterial activity. In the recent
studies, silver (Ag) substituted and silver (Ag) coated ferrite

E-mail addresses: ranjueaswar@gmail.com (E.R. Kumar), srinivas.chintoju75@gmail.com (C. Srinivas), nsuri22@gmail.com (N. Suriyanarayanan).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmmm.2018.09.039
Received 23 August 2018; Received in revised form 6 September 2018; Accepted 8 September 2018
Available online 08 September 2018
0304-8853/ © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
M.K. Satheeshkumar et al. Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 469 (2019) 691–697
tional analysis through EDX.
nanoparticles were prepared in order to understand and improve the TEM micrographs and selected-area electron diffraction (SAED)
antibacterial activity of silver (Ag). Okasha et al. [6] experimented on have been recorded with the help of Technai G20-stwin HRTEM
the effect of Ag doping in MgFe2O4 and reported a development in its working at an accelerating voltage of 200 kV.
electrical and thermal conductivity. Kooti et al. [7] studied the biolo gical Lakeshore model 7410 Vibrational Sample Magnetometer was
activity of AgCoFe2O4 nanocomposite. CoFe2O4 is a famous spinel used to obtain the hysteresis loops at room temperature.
ferrite which has reasonable saturation magnetization, high coercivity
and very high magneto-crystalline anisotropy. It can be found in bio 2.3. Antibacterial test
medical applications like magnetic hyperthermia, targeted drug de
livery and bactericides [8–10].The substitution of Ag in CoFe2O4 spinel Antibiotic susceptibility tests for the CoFe2O4 and the Ag doped
structure or coating of Ag to CoFe2O4 ferrite nanoparticles provides a CoFe2O4 were carried out against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC
new composite material possessing good physical properties and anti 25923); Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) and Candida ablicans (ATCC
microbial active nature. 10231) using well diffusion method on Mueller–Hinton agar plates. The
NPs with antibacterial activity can be found in huge applications like various
food processing and packaging, textile industry, biomedical de vices
and water disinfection [11–13]. Among the various ferrites, cobalt and
Ag doped cobalt ferrite is of special class of interest due to their unique
physical, magnetic properties along with their wider scope of
biomedical applications. Therefore, in the present study, honey
assisted combustion route has been adopted to prepare CoFe2O4 and
Ag doped CoFe2O4NPs with a chemical equation (1–x) CoFe2O4: xAg
(x = 0.0, 0.2), assuming an advancement in the biological ac tivity. The
present work deals with the structural, morphological and magnetic
characterization of undoped and Ag doped CoFe2O4 NPs synthesized
and it also aims to identify the action of these NPs in suitable biological
applications.

2. Experimental procedure and characterization techniques

2.1. Sample preparation

Analytical grade cobalt nitrate (Co(NO3)26H2O), silver nitrate (Ag

(NO3)2) and ferric nitrate (Fe(NO3)29H2O) are used as precursors to
synthesize CoFe2O4 and Ag doped CoFe2O4 ferrite NPs. These
materials are weighed in stoichiometric amounts along with freshly
extracted honey from bees foraged on eucalyptus trees. In this typical
experiment, solutions of 0.5mol Co(NO3)26H2O, 1mol Fe(NO3)29H2O
were slowly added (1:2 ratio) to the honey solution (30 ml of fresh
honey +20 ml of distilled water). They severely mixed for 1 h and finally
ferrite powder was obtained by heating the mixed solution to 100 °C.
The obtained ferrite powder was milled in an agate mortar into a fine
powder and a portion of the powder was heat treated at 600 °C in the
air atmosphere. The same method was repeated to prepare Ag doped
CoFe2O4 NPs (0.1 mol Ag(NO3)2 + 0.4 mol Co(NO3)26H2O). The as
prepared samples and sintered samples are characterized for
structural, magnetic and anti bacterial studies. The pictorial diagram of
method preparation is shown in Fig. 1.

2.2. Characterization techniques

X-ray diffractograms are obtained using Rigaku X-ray diffractometer

(Model ULTIMA III) with Cu-K α(λ = 0.15406 nm) radiation as a target.
JEOL 5600LV scanning electron microscope was employed to study
the morphology of the samples through SEM pictures and composi
 concentrated (100–500 mg) CoFe2O4 and AgCoFe2O4 nanoparticles
sonicated in distilled water were pipetted on to individual inoculated
agar plates and then incubated at 37 °C for 24 h before that the mi
croorganisms were cultured into nutrient broth medium and incubated
at 37 °C for 2 to 5 h. Each strain was swabbed uniformly on to agar
plates and 6 mm diameter wells were made in to which nanoparticles
were loaded. The standard antibiotic streptomycin was also loaded as
control to monitor any contamination during testing. Zones of inhibi tion
surrounding the coated samples were measured by vernier caliper as a
parameter of antibacterial property of the synthesized CoFe2O4 and the
AgCoFe2O4.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. X-Ray diffraction studies

XRD technique has been used to confirm the formation of phase in

as-burnt and annealed samples of cobalt and Ag doped cobalt ferrite
NPs. The respective XRD patterns are depicted in Fig. 2. The
diffraction peaks identified at the diffraction angles nearer to 30.19°,
35.55°, 37.15°, 43.24°, 53.34°, 57.14°, 62.69° and 74.03o in all XRD
patterns are indexed with the miller indices (2 2 0), (3 1 1), (2 2 2), (4 0
0), (4 2 2), (5 1 1), (4 4 0) and (5 3 3). These are consistent with the
JCPDS card no. 75-0894 belonging to Fd3m space group with cubic
spinel structure. The diffraction peaks in the patterns (c) and (d) are
noticed nearly at the diffraction angles 38.09°, 44.39oand 64.69°, and
are labeled as (1 1 1), (2 0 0) and (2 2 0) comparing with the silver
X-ray spectrum. This observation confirms the presence of silver (Ag)
nanoparticles in the spinel ferrite network. The indexed diffraction
planes are consistent with JCPDS card no.004-0783 belonging to
Fm3m space group with cubic structure. An interesting observation has
been made from the XRD patterns. The pure cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4)
both as-burnt and annealed samples seem to be free from the
formation of secondary phases, where in the silver (Ag) substituted
cobalt ferrite secondary phases of α–Fe2O3 (JCPDS card no.87-1166)
are found which are in dexed in the XRD patterns. Generally, the
methods of preparation, nature of additives, and optimum conditions
for the preparation of ferrites are the factors that predominately affect
the spinel structure of ferrites and the formation of secondary phases.
The literature reports [14] disclose that the formation of secondary
phases in Mn-ferrite and Mn-substituted ferrites are phenomenal due to
oxidation of Mn2+which depends upon the local oxygen environment. A
comprehensive analysis of the formation of these secondary phases in
different ferrite systems was reported in our previous publication [15].
In the present ferrite systems, the presence of Ag in the spinel
structure seems to be affecting the Fe3+ and O2– environments
resulting to the formation of secondary phases. The lattice constant (a)
for cubic spinel structure was calculated using the formula [16]

a d h k l = + + 2 2 2 (1)

where h, k, l = Miller indices, θ = Bragg angles and d = interplanar

spacing which can be calculated from the Bragg’s law 2dsinθ =λ. The
crystallite sizes (D) of the samples were calculated using the
Debye-Scherrer formula[16]
kD
= cos (2)
where β = full width at half maxima (FWHM) in radians, and k = shape
factor taken as 0.89.
The calculated values of lattice parameter (a) and crystallite size
(D) for these samples are listed in Table 1.It was observed that the
lattice parameter of pure CoFe2O4 and Ag doped CoFe2O4 has been
increased with the heat treatment which is ascribed to the expansion of
the unit cell. Moreover, the lattice parameter of Ag doped CoFe2O4
(8.3877 Å) is greater than that of un-doped CoFe2O4 (8.3721 Å). This
may be due to the change of cations’ distribution occurred due to the
substitution of
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M.K. Satheeshkumar et al. Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 469 (2019) 691–697
 Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of honey assisted combustion method.

Table 1
Structural and magnetic properties of (1–x)CoFe2O4: xAg (x = 0.0, 0.2) -
Sample A (as burnt CoFe 2O4), Sample B (annealed CoFe2O4), Sample C(as burnt
Ag-CoFe2O4) and Sample D (annealed Ag-CoFe 2O4).
Samples a D Ms Hc Mr S = Mr/Ms
(Å) (nm) (emu/g) (Oe) (emu/g)

Fig. 2. XRD of Pure and Ag substituted Cobalt ferrite nanoparticles: (a) as

prepared cobalt ferrite, (b) 600 °C annealed cobalt ferrite, (c) as-prepared Ag
cobalt ferrite (d) 600 °C annealed Ag-cobalt ferrite.

Ag in the spinel structure. The size of silver nanoparticles in the pre

pared sample and in the annealed sample is estimated to be 46.8 nm
and 62.7 nm. The crystallite sizes of the prepared and the annealed un
693
Sample A 8.3721 24.1 48 1428.2 17.6 0.37 Sample B 8.4646 40.9 60 1358.1
23.7 0.39 Sample C 8.3877 27.5 31 648.1 9.1 0.29 Sample D 8.4795 39.3 38
 721.7 11.7 0.31
doped CoFe2O4 are 24.1 nm and 40.9 nm. The crystallite sizes of the
prepared and the annealed Ag doped CoFe2O4 are 27.5 nm and 39.3
nm. The improvement of crystallinity of ferrite NPs has been clearly
iden tified by increasing the sharpness of the diffraction peaks under
an nealing treatment which can be expected due to Oswald ripening. It
was observed that the crystallite size of ferrite NPs in the prepared Ag
doped CoFe2O4 is greater than that of the prepared un-doped
CoFe2O4. Whereas, the crystallite size of ferrite NPs in the annealed
Ag doped CoFe2O4 is less than that of the annealed un-doped
CoFe2O4. With the heat treatment, the size of Ag nanoparticles is
increased. These bigger Ag nanoparticles in the annealed Ag doped
CoFe2O4 may be acted as resistive centers at the grain boundaries to
M.K. Satheeshkumar et al. Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 469 (2019) 691–697
Fig. 3. EDX spectra of Pure and Ag substituted cobalt ferrite nanoparticles: (a) as-prepared cobalt ferrite, (b) 600 °C annealed cobalt ferrite, (c) as-prepared
Ag-cobalt ferrite (d) 600 °C annealed Ag-cobalt ferrite.
Table 2
Elemental compositions of (1–x)CoFe2O4: xAg (x = 0.0, 0.2) - Sample A(as
burnt CoFe2O4), Sample B (annealed CoFe2O4), Sample C(as burnt
Ag-CoFe2O4) and Sample D (annealed Ag-CoFe 2O4).
Samples Co:Fe Fe:O Ag
Sample A 0.57 0.48 – Sample B 0.52 0.42 – Sample C 0.5 0.47 1.15 Sample D 0.56
0.49 0.94
3.3. SEM and TEM studies
Morphology of the undoped and the Ag doped CoFe2O4 nano
particles annealed at 600 °C were investigated using scanning electron
microscopy (SEM), and corresponding micrograms are shown in Fig. 4.
The morphological changes in samples due to doping and annealing
are clearly evident from the nature of SEM micrograms. The particle
size and shape of the as-burnt samples of the undoped and the Ag
doped cobalt ferrite NPs have been recorded using transmission
electron mi croscopy (TEM). TEM images and histograms are
presented in Fig. 5.TEM images of the as-burnt sample (the undoped
obstruct the release of sur face energy needed for the crystallite
growth.
3.2. Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) studies
Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectra for present ferrite systems
were used to check the stoichiometry of samples. The characteristic
spectra are displayed in Fig. 3 and the results are summarized in
Table2. The calculations of elemental composition ratios of the
samples are consistent with the expected stoichiometry considered
under pre paration. The atomic percentages of Ag in the Ag-doped
CoFe2O4 con firm the presence of Ag-nanoparticles. However, a small
difference of Ag is about 0.21% has been observed between the
prepared and the annealed sample of Ag-doped CoFe2O4. This is
probably due to the non uniform distribution of Ag-nanoparticles in the
cobalt ferrite network.
and the Ag doped) show that the shapes of the ferrite nanoparticles are
nearly spherical and polyhedron. The distribution of particles of
different sizes have been revealed from the histograms and the
average particle sizes for the as-burnt cobalt ferrite and the Ag doped
cobalt ferrite are found to be 25.2 nm and 28.4 nm respectively. The
agglomeration of Ag na noparticles on the ferrite nanoparticles may be
resulted a bigger par ticle size in the Ag doped CoFe2O4. Similar
studies have been reported in the literature [17]. The average particle
sizes estimated from histo grams are consistent with the crystallite size
Destimated from the XRD analysis. The superimposition of bright spots
observed in the SAED pattern of the ferrite sample recorded through a
transmission electron microscope is an indicative of polycrystalline
nature of ferrite samples [16] that is supporting the particle distribution
as observed from XRD and TEM.
 3.4. Magnetic studies

Magnetic behaviour of the pure cobalt ferrite and the Ag doped

cobalt ferrite nanoparticles at room temperature have been studied
using vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and the respective mag
netization curves are shown in Figs. 6 and 7. The saturation magneti
zation (Ms), remnant magnetization (Mr), coercivity (Hc), and square
ness ratio (S = Mr/Ms) are listed in Table 1.The wide feature of
hysteresis loops indicates that all of the samples have hard magnetic
character. The magnetization in ferrites depends on both the magneti
zations at octahedral (B) and tetrahedral (A) sites, and is given as M M
M = | | B A , where MB and MA are the magnetizations at A- and B sites.
The cations’ distribution is the predominant factor for the mag
netizations at A- and B- sites. The reported values Ms = 60 emu/g for
the annealed CoF2O4 is less than that of bulk CoF2O4 (Ms ∼ 87 emu/g)
[18]. This is attributed to the – cations’ redistribution in spinel structure
unlike the normal distribution. The process of downsizing the particles
to nanoscale dimensions leads to the decrease of surface energy. This
is not enough to retain the actual distribution of cations in the spinel
structure. Therefore, cations’ redistribution may be happening against
to their normal preferences which will affect the magnetizations at A–
and B– sites. The saturation magnetization (Ms) values of the Ag sub
stituted Co-ferrite were found to be lower than that of the corre
sponding Co-ferrite. The substitution of diamagnetic Ag for Co in the
spinel structure may substantially lower the magnetization of CoFe2O4.
On the other perspective, in the ferrite sample with smaller crystallite
sizes (See Table 1) has a probability of possessing higher non-collinear
shell region than that of the ferrite core [19,20]. Increasing number of
un-coordinated magnetic spins on the surface of the shell layer which
are not able to align in the direction of external magnetic field may also
be responsible for the decrease of saturation magnetization of the Ag
doped CoFe2O4. Kooti et al. [21] reported the similar variation of Ms in
Ag-coated CoFe2O4 nanoparticles, and they reported this is due to the
decrease in ferrite core and increase in shell consisting of AgNPs. The
acquired magnetization in the pure CoFe2O4 and the Ag doped
CoFe2O4 is increased with the heat treatment. This is attributed to the
Oswald ripening of particle sizes that depends on sintering process.
From the
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M.K. Satheeshkumar et al. Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 469 (2019) 691–697

Fig. 4. SEM micrograms of Pure and Ag substituted cobalt ferrite nanoparticles: (a) as-prepared cobalt ferrite, (b) 600 °C annealed cobalt ferrite, (c) as-prepared Ag
cobalt ferrite (d) 600 °C annealed Ag-cobalt ferrite.
 abundant aspects like magnetocrystalline anisotropy, microstrain, size
distribution and magnetic domain size [22–24]. The variation of Hc in
VSM results, it can be observed that the coercivity (Hc) is decreased in
the pure CoFe2O4 can be explained in the following way; in the multi
pure the CoFe2O4, but it is increased in the Ag doped CoFe2O4 with the
heat treatment. The above oscillation of Hc may be influenced by

Fig. 5. TEM and HR-TEM images of as-prepared pure and Ag substituted cobalt ferrite nanoparticles.

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M.K. Satheeshkumar et al. Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 469 (2019) 691–697

Fig. 6. Magnetic measurements of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles (a) as-prepared

and (b) annealed at 600 °C.
 Fig. 8. Antimicrobial activity of CoFe2O4 and AgCoFe 2O4 against (A) & (B)
Staphylococcus aureus, (C) & (D) Escherichia coli, (E) & (F)Candida albicans.

study, it can be observed that the width of the hysteresis loop is de

creased with the substitution of Ag in the spinel structure of CoFe 2O4.
This indicates that the nature of magnetization is transforming from the
ferromagnetic order to superparamagnetic order with the substitution
of Ag, resulting the decrease of magnetocrystalline anisotropy. The
decrease of magnetocrystalline anisotropy is the probable reason for the
low of Hc in the Ag doped CoFe 2O4 when compared with the pure
CoFe2O4 in the present studies. The isotropic nature of present ferrite
samples is evident by noticing with low value of squareness ratio which
is in the range of 0.29 to 0.37.

3.5. Antibacterial activity studies

Inhibitory activity of CoFe2O4 and AgCoFe 2O4.
Fig. 7. Magnetic measurements of Ag substituted cobalt ferrite nanoparticles
(a) as-prepared and (b) annealed at 600 °C. Sample Microbes Zone of inhibition in mm

Antimicrobial property of the CoFe2O4 and the Ag doped CoFe2O4

domain system, Hc is varied inversely to D and to Ms. Moreover, it was
observed that the Hc in the Ag doped CoFe2O4 is less than that of the
pure CoFe2O4. These results are quite contrast to the results reported
by Kooti et al. [21]. Shukla et al. [25] also observed higher value of Hc
in the Ag doped CoFe2O4 than that of the pure CoFe2O4 and they
reported this is due to increase in magnetocrystalline anisotropy. In the
present
Table 3
were analyzed by treating two bacteria Staphylococcus aureus,
Escherichia coli and fungus Candida ablicans with varying
concentrations 100–500 mg. The viability was assessed by the
determination of clear zone of inhibition around the disc after 48-h
incubation. The obtained results are presented in Table 3, and the
respective images inhibition zones are shown in Fig. 8. It can be
observed that as the concentration of nano particles is increased,
microbial cultures are decreased. Both nano particles show good
antimicrobial action against Staphylococcus

100 200 300 400 500 Streptomycin (10 mg)

CoFe2O4 E.coli 7.5 ± 0.20 8.0 ± 0.7 8.5 ± 0.04 9.0 ± 0.8 9.5 ± 0.04 18.66 ± 0.47 S.aureus 9.0 ± 0.41 9.5 ± 0.01 8.5 ± 0.01 8.75 ± 0.20 10.0 ± 0.41 18.66 ± 0.47 C.albicans
8.0 ± 0.08 9.5 ± 0.62 10.05 ± 0.23 12.5 ± 0.01 15.0 ± 0.07 27.8 ± 0.16

AgCoFe2O4 E.coli 8.0 ± 0.08 8.5 ± 0.06 9.3 ± 0.23 10.5 ± 0.01 10.5 ± 0.08 18.66 ± 0.47 S.aureus 6.5 ± 0.06 6.8 ± 0.04 7.5 ± 0.01 7.86 ± 0.20 8.5 ± 0 19.03 ± 0.12 C.albicans
8.0 ± 0.04 8.5 ± 0.31 8.93 ± 0.09 16.13 ± 0.18 20.03 ± 0.47 29.17 ± 0.23

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M.K. Satheeshkumar et al. Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 469 (2019) 691–697
aureus, Escherichia coli and Candida ablicans tested with the zone of
inhibition greater than 7 mm. Generally, getting 7 mm inhibition zone
diameter due to testing material represents the good antibacterial ac
tivity against to bacteria which is under testing [21]. Highly con
centrated nanoparticles produce greatest antimicrobial action up to
10–20 mm of diameter. The antimicrobial activity was compared with
commercial antimicrobial agent streptomycin, as a positive control
impregnated on the disc. The antibacterial activity of streptomycin
seems to be superior to the present NPs of testing materials. Several
discussions are going on among the researchers about the
antibacterial activity. However, the possible mechanism of antimicrobial
activity for the nanoparticles is due to: (1) interference during cell wall
synthesis; (2) suppression during protein biosynthesis (translation); (3)
inter ference or disruption of transcription process; and (4) disruption of
primary metabolic pathways [26]. The inactivation of bacterial en
zymes by the mechanism that Co ions released from nano clusters in
teract with the thiol groups present in bacterial enzymes which results
in damage to bacterial DNA and cell death [27]. The results revealed
that the AgCoFe2O4 Nps are quite effective than the CoFe2O4 against
Escherichia coli and Candida ablicans. This is due to the fact that the
antimicrobial activity of AgCoFe2O4 depends on the amount of Ag+ ions
released which can cause cell distortion and death of bacterial species
[28]. Thus the CoFe2O4 and the AgCoFe2O4 were found to in hibit all
tested pathogenic bacteria and fungus including Staphylococcus
aureus and Escherichia coli and Candida ablicans.
4. Conclusion
Co ferrite and Ag substituted Co ferrite nanoparticles have been
synthesized by honey assisted combustion method. Secondary phases
are found in the Ag doped CoFe2O4 that is due to the change in the
environments of Fe3+ and O2– with the substitution of Ag in the spinel
structure. The substitution of Ag in the spinel structure of cobalt ferrite
seems to be effecting the surface energy needed for the crystallite
growth. The average particle sizes for the as-burnt cobalt ferrite and
the Ag doped cobalt ferrite are 25.2 nm and 28.4 nm. The substitution
of Ag is changing the magnetic behaviour of the CoFe2O4 from
ferromagnetic order to superparamagnetic order. The changes in
magnetic parameters of the pure CoFe2O4and the Ag doped CoFe2O4
are due to the change of particle sizes/or magnetocrystalline
anisotropy. When compared with the pure CoFe2O4, the Ag doped
CoFe2O4 are exhibiting good anti bacterial activity.

Acknowledgement

We are thankful to Dr. J. Pavan, and Dr. A. Ramakrishana Aditya

Engineering College, Surampalem, for their technical support.

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