Fabrication and Characterization of Titanium Oxide/Magnetite Ferrofluid as Antifungal Agent
Maulit Diyan Nuraini, Ahmad Taufiq*, Chusnana Insjaf Yogihati, Nasikhudin, Sunaryono

Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Negeri Malang, Jl. Semarang No. 5, Malang 65145, Indonesia

Abstract

The aim of this research was to fabricate titanium oxide/magnetite ferrofluid from natural sand with dimethylsulfoxide as a surfactant and olive oil as a dispersant agent for antifungal application. Crystal structure, morphology, functional group, and antifungal agent through characterization using XRD, SEM, FTIR, and well diffusion method. The XRD analysis results show that the titanium oxide nanoparticle had an anatase structure with a tetragonal shape, while the magnetite nanoparticle had an inverse spinel cubic structure. Furthermore, the crystallite sizes of the titanium oxide and magnetite nanoparticles were 12.6 and 12.9 nm, respectively. The results of the SEM analysis showed that titanium oxide/magnetite was composed of dark and white-colored, spherical and cube-shaped particles that had agglomerated with a particle size of 21.6 nm. The results of FTIR analysis of the ferrofluid presented titanium oxide and magnetite nanoparticles which were indicated by Fe-O vibrations at wavenumbers of 586 cm-1 and 707 cm-1 and Ti-O vibrations at a wavenumber of 459 cm-1. Finally, the prepared titanium oxide/magnetite ferrofluid exhibited excellent antifungal activity with an inhibition zone diameter of 7.5 mm.

Keywords: ferrofluid, titanium oxide/magnetite, iron sand, antifungal agent.

Topic: Magnetic materials