MICROSTRUCTURAL AND ANTIFUNGAL PROPERTIES OF SILVER SUBSTITUTED COPPER FERRITE NANOPOWDER SYNTHESIZED BY SOL-GEL METHOD

Single phase spinel ferrite samples of Ag doped CuFe2O4 were synthesized by using sol-gel method and annealed at 350 0C for 3 hrs. The present work reports study on antimicrobial activity of pure and Ag doped CuFe2O4 nanocomposites. The effect of silver doping on the structural and antimicrobial properties of copper ferrites has been examined. The structure of nanosize Ag doped CuFe2O4 was characterized by Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR) and Transmission electron microscope (TEM). The X-ray diffraction measurements clearly showed the formation of single phase spinel ferrite structure in all the prepared ferrite compositions. The lattice parameters are found to increase with increasing doping concentration of the silver content. The synthesized nanoparticles have been tested against the pathogenic culture showed a very good zone of inhibition. It indicates the biomedical capability of Ag doped CuFe2O4. Keywords: Nanoparticles, Fungal pathogens, XRD, FTIR, TEM.