Effects of iron nanoparticles on iron-corroding bacteria.

The toxicological effects of FeO nanoparticles were evaluated with an iron-corroding bacterium (ICB) for preventing the biocorrosion of iron. FeO nanoparticles of 18 nm were successfully prepared and characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). A halophilic ICB strain L4 was isolated from Ribandar saltpan Goa, India and identified biochemically and by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis as sp.