Preparation of Fe3O4 encapsulated-silica sulfonic acid nanoparticles and study of their in vitro antimicrobial activity

A simple and efficient method for the functionalization of silica-coated Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4@SiO2) using chlorosulfonic acid is described. The prepared compounds were screened for antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli (E. coli ATCC 25922) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus ATCC 25923) under UV-light and dark conditions. It was found that the Fe3O4@SiO2-SO3H was significantly indicated the higher photocatalytic inactivation than both Fe3O4 and Fe3O4@SiO2 against E. coli in compared with S. aureus. Furthermore, the inactivation efficiency against both organisms under light conditions has been higher than this efficiency under dark conditions.