Utilization of induction furnace steel slag based iron oxide nanocomposites for antibacterial studies

Metals and metal oxide-based nanocomposites play a significant role over the control of microbes. In this study, antibacterial activity of iron oxide (Fe 2 O 3 ) nanocomposites based on induction furnace (IF) steel slag has been carried out. IF steel slag is an industrial by-product generated from secondary steel manufacturing process and has various metal oxides which includes Al 2 O 3 (7.89%), MnO (5.06), CaO (1.49%) and specifically Fe 2 O 3 (14.30%) in higher content along with metalloid SiO 2 (66.42). Antibacterial activity of iron oxide nanocomposites has been revealed on bacterial species such as Micrococcus luteus, Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus . Micrococcus luteus has undergone maximum zone of inhibition (ZOI) of 12 mm for 10 mg/mL concentration of steel slag iron oxide nanocomposite. Growth inhibitory kinetics of bacterial species has been studied using ELISA microplate reader at 660 nm by varying the concentration of steel slag iron oxide nanocomposites. The results illustrate that IF steel slag is a potential material and can be utilized in building materials to increase the resistance against biodeterioration. Graphic abstract