Low-cost process for synthesis of sorbents from ilmenite ores in Abu Ghalaga, Egypt and their uses in biological activity

Saad, Hoda R.; Moawed, ElHossein A.; Elafndi, Rokaya K.; El-Zahed, Mohamed M.

doi:10.21608/sjdfs.2023.201599.1095

Low-cost process for synthesis of sorbents from ilmenite ores in Abu Ghalaga, Egypt and their uses in biological activity

Document Type : Original articles

Authors

¹ Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Damietta University, New Damietta, Egypt

² Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Damietta University, Egypt

³ Chemistry Department, Faulty of Science, Damietta University, Damietta, Egypt

⁴ Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Damietta University, New Damietta, Egypt.

10.21608/sjdfs.2023.201599.1095

Abstract

Ilmenite ores have been extensively studied for biological activity, especially antibacterial and antifungal activities. Herein, we report a green approach to fabricating Fe-O/Ti-O composite from ilmenite ore. The composite was synthesized by a one-step reaction of ilmenite at 900°C in 2 h, the raw composite was, then, ground by a ball-milled process in 4 h to obtain the final produced composite. The obtained composite was characterized using a UV/Vis spectrophotometer, energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The weight percentages of the main elements in the ilmenite matrix was carbon (9.5%), oxygen (39.3%), titanium (15.1%), iron (24.0%), terbium (4.7%), molybdenum (2.6%), magnesium (1.8%), silicon (1.7%), and aluminium (1.3%). Several peaks were observed in the FTIR spectrum at 1086, 1009, 547, and 436 cm-1 which characterize the matrix of Ti-O and Fe-OAlso, the energy band gap was determined giving 3.52 eV. The produced composite was tested against different microbes using the agar well diffusion method and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) tests. It revealed good antimicrobial action against both Gram-positive (inhibition zone = 16 mm, MIC = 150 µg/ml) and Gram-negative bacteria (inhibition zone = 12 mm, MIC = 175 µg/ml) as well as fungi (Inhibition zone = 10 mm, MIC = 225 µg/ml). The obtained results are very promising for using the Ti-O/Fe-O composite as a strong antimicrobial agent in different industrial and pharmaceutical applications.

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