MoO₃ Nano-Bricks as Novel Antimicrobial Agents

Multiple drug resistance in microorganisms has impersonated critical vulnerability to existing antibiotics; hence substitutes/or options to encounter resistant pathogenic microbes are desirable. Our focus in this study was the synthesis and characterization of Molybdenum oxide (MoO3) nano-bricks and to explore them in terms of their antimicrobial potential. MoO3 nano-bricks were successfully synthesized by hydrothermal method using (NH4)6Mo7O24⋅4H2O precursor and calcination at 500 °C for 2 h. The synthesized MoO3 nano-bricks determined antibacterial activity against four bacterial isolates and one fungal isolate. The MoO3 bricks were characterized using standard physicochemical characterization viz. XRD, SEM, FTIR, and EDX. In the present investigation, characteristic antibacterial properties of MoO3 nano-bricks against Gram +ve (S. aureus ATCC 29213 and S. epidermidis ATCC 12228) and Gram -ve (E. coli ATCC 35218 and K. pneumoniae ATCC 700603) bacteria is noted. The antifungal activity was tested using C. albicans ATCC 10231 as model organism. Molybdenum oxides generate acidic medium and demonstrated potent antimicrobial action for various pathogenic bacterial strains causing infections. The MoO3 nano-bricks depicted broad spectrum antimicrobial potential which strongly recommends their use as material of choice as potential antimicrobial material to be used in food industry, water purification, textile industry etc.