Tailoring of optical, biological and magnetic properties of nanocrystalline Fe doped TiO₂ thin films

Fe doped TiO₂ films were synthesized by sol–gel dip coating method. The concentration of Fe³⁺ was varied as 1%–5% (w/w) in TiO₂. X-ray diffraction showed dominating rutile phase of TiO₂ along with brookite phase and hematite Fe₂O₃ 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 TiO₂ 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 TiO₂, but had affected its photo-catalytic and antibacterial properties. The bacteria E. coli were more vulnerable to Iron doped TiO₂ when compared to the bacteria Pseudomonas. 3% Fe doped TiO₂ had the best photo-catalytic activity. Fe doped TiO₂ can act as a remarkable antibacterial entity against microorganisms to save from bacterial infections. (paper)