Effect of pH on structure and surface charge of Fe$_2$O$_3$ nanoparticles synthesized at different pH conditions and correlation to antibacterial properties

Abstract

pH of a solution is the ratio of H+/OH- ions. The relative ratio of these charges may affect forming bonds during a hydrothermal synthesis by influencing electronic clouds of participant ions, which can modify the structure and hence crystallinity, strain, disorder, surface termination etc. These factors may modify physical properties including the surface charge. This work uses hematite nanoparticles to correlate the structural modifications to all these properties and finally to the antibacterial properties due to the surface charge interaction of the nanoparticles and the bacterial cell walls.