Fabrication of Spinel Cobalt Ferrite (CoFe2O4) Nanoparticles with Unique Earth Element Cerium and Neodymium for Anticandidal Activities

Abstract

The present study, demonstrates the synthesis of spinel cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4) nanoparticles (NPs), substituted with various concentrations of unique earth element neodymium (Nd3+) and Cerium (Ce3+), by sonochemical technique. Further examination for the influence of Nd3+ and Ce3+ on structure, surface morphology and anticandidal activities, using different techniques X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with Energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were studied. The nanocrystalline size ranging from 11 to 16 nm with spherical shaped particles were obtained. The anticandidal effect of Nd3+ and Ce3+ doped cobalt ferrite NPs were studied against Candida albicans by evaluating the CFU (colony forming unit) and morphogenesis by SEM. The treatment with Nd3+ and Ce3+ doped cobalt ferrite nanoparticles, showed profound activity with the increasing ratio of Nd3+ and Ce3+ and in an incubation duration manner. The lowest survivability i. e. 40 and 30%, and maximum morphogenesis was obtained with x=0.15 and x=0.2, respectively. The findings lead to the conclusion, that the synthesized NPs have potential as therapeutic strategy targeting Candida infection, and other biomedical applications.