Fabrication of novel bioceramic α-Fe2O3/MnO nanocomposites: Study of their structural, magnetic, biocompatibility and antibacterial properties

Highlights: • Synthesis of α-Fe₂O₃/MnO nanocomposites by co-precipitation method. • Characterization of samples by XRD, TEM, EDAX and VSM. • Antibacterial testing by disc diffusion method. • Excellent antibacterial activity by nanocomposite samples. • Samples are biocompatible and non-toxic to human cell lines MCF7 & MCF-12A. In recent times, a sharp increase in prevalence of bacterial strains showing resistance against currently used antibiotics has severely challenged the modern healthcare system in the treatment of bacterial infections. Therefore, it is needed to find suitable alternatives to counter this problem in order to treat contagious diseases. Nanomaterials/composites based inorganic antibiotic appears to be a feasible option, because these materials kill bacteria by concurrently acting through multiple mechanisms, unlike traditional antibiotics. In this study, Fe/Mn oxide nanocomposites were synthesized via a wet-chemical approach, and well characterized to examine their structural, dimensional, elemental, magnetic, cytotoxic and, antibacterial attributes. The nanocomposites exhibited mixed phases of constituent metal oxides α-Fe₂O₃ and MnO. The composite samples were of rod shape and shown room temperature superparamagnetism. Further, the prepared samples were found compatible with the cell lines MCF7 and MCF-12A, and exhibited ROS induced excellent bactericidal properties against bacteria E. coli, B. subtilis, S. aureus, and S. typhi. Therefore, the Fe/Mn oxide nanocomposites have the potential to become a promising alternative to the traditional antibiotics.