Doped LaCoO3 perovskite with Fe: A catalyst with potential antibacterial activity

The present work is aimed at investigating the antimicrobial activity of Lanthanum cobalt ferrate (LaCo1-XFeXO3) perovskite nanoparticles against Gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa MTCC 1688 and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus MTCC 96. A series of LaCo1-XFeXO3 (x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1) perovskite were synthesized by citrate precursor sol-gel method. Samples have been characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron microscope (SEM), Branauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) nitrogen adsorption technique. The average size of the nanoparticles varied from 10 to 100 nm and XRD revealed the formation of a single phase perovskite structure after annealing the precursor at 800 °C for 8 h. Surface area was found to be highest for LaCo0.2Fe0.8O3 (17.48 m2/g). Antibacterial activity was assessed according to the Radial Diffusion Assay (RDA). The results indicates promising antibacterial activity of LaCo1-XFeXO3 on both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. MIC values for S.aureus and P.aeruginosa, were in the range of 50-200 μg/mL, the enhanced antibacterial activity has attributed to increased doping of Fe stoichiometric ratio of the perovskite nanoparticles. MBC studies showed that the growth of S.aureus and P.aeruginosa could be ceased above 100 μg/mL of LaCo1-XFeXO3. Thus the data supports the use of such nanoparticles as a potential antimicrobial agents specially with regards to water purification technology.