Enhanced physical properties and antimicrobial activity of PEG-4000 capping on CoxCu1-xFe2O4 nanoparticles for technological applications: Synthesis and characterization

Abstract This research presents an in depth study of the electrical and antibacterial activity of Co x Cu 1-x Fe 2 O 4 and their polymer nanocomposites. The citrate precursor auto-combustion method was successfully used to synthesize the nanostructured Co x Cu 1-x Fe 2 O 4 . To investigate the impact of PEG on the physical characteristics, polymer-blended ferrite nanoparticles were produced using PEG-4000 as a capping agent. X-ray diffraction analysis of Co x Cu 1-x Fe 2 O 4 verified their cubic spinel structure, and Rietveld analysis was used to further refine the results using FULLPROF software. The lattice constant ( a ) increases, while the crystal size decreases by increasing Co 2+ concentration. According to the measured elastic properties, PEG in PEG/Co x Cu 1-x Fe 2 O 4 nanocomposites made it softer and more durable. CuFe 2 O 4 was found to have maximum conductivity and dielectric loss but lower dielectric permittivity. PEG enhances the dielectric permittivity of some Co x Cu 1-x Fe 2 O 4 . The Nyquist plots were fitted by the ZSimpWin program, and the equivalent circuit demonstrates that the electrode, grain, and grain boundaries contributed to the polarization process. Co x Cu 1-x Fe 2 O 4 samples are suitable for high-frequency applications due to their low dielectric loss. Thermal conductivity tests reveal that CuFe 2 O 4 has the highest value among the ferrite samples. The thermal conductivity of the composites exceeds that of pure ferrites. The nanoparticles and their composites exhibited antimicrobial activity against both gram-negative bacteria (E. coli) and gram-positive bacteria (Staph. Aureus). These intriguing findings suggest that these materials are excellent candidates for technological and therapeutic applications.