Study ability of the bacteria isolated from the red soils of the Hormuz island in the production of iron nanoparticles

Iron magnetic nanoparticles have been widely studied for biological, medical as well as industrial applications. The physical and chemical synthesis methods currently used to produce nanoparticles cause environmental contamination. Certain bacteria are capable of synthesizing significant amounts of iron nanoparticles, quite in conformity with the principles of green chemistry. The objective of this study was to isolate and identify iron nanoparticle-producing bacteria from soils of Hormuz Island, Iran.
This cross-sectional study was carried out with soil sampling from the Hormuz Island. Following serial dilution, culturing and purification in a combined solid agar culture medium, biochemical and molecular tests were used to identify bacteria. The properties of nanoparticles produced by bacteria were studied using UV-Vis spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM).
The presence of Pseudomonas sp. was confirmed using biochemical characteristics, sequencing, and blasting the obtained sequences in NCBI database in the Hormuz Island soil. UV-Vis spectrometry and XRD graphs proved the presence of iron nanoparticles produced by bacteria. Furthermore, SEM images showed the size of nanoparticles as less than 50 nm.
The results of this study highlighted the adequacy of Pseudomonas isolated from the Hormuz Island soil in iron nanoparticle bio-synthesis as a cost-effective method, without any need for high energy expenditure. Therefore, the use of this bacterium as a useful biological source for large scale synthesis of iron nanoparticles is recommended through further studies.