Utilization of Mining Rock Wastes as Antibacterial Agents Against Gram Positive Bacteria

Abstract

In this investigation, samples of mining dolomite wastes were collected from Abu Tartur phosphate mines, Egypt. The samples were thermally decomposed to MgO/CaO mixture as evidenced by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The MgO/CaO combination mixture was utilized in this study as an antibacterial agent against Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, and Staphylococcus epidermidis. Antibacterial experiments have revealed that the MgO/CaO combination was more effective against Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, and Staphylococcus epidermidis. For the three bacterial strains, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the tested mixture was found to be 1.0 µg/mL. Acridine Orange pictures, which helped to explain the high occurrence of dead cells, and were utilized effectively to record the effect of MgO/CaO, which was employed in this investigation on the bacterial growth. Taking into consideration, MgO/CaO combination was found to be very interesting candidate material for bacterial disinfection due to its simplicity of synthesis, low cost, low release rate, and as excellent antibacterial activity.

Keywords:

• Dolomite
• Bacillus
• Staphylococcus
• biogeochemical cycling
• biomineralization

Author contributions

Conceptualization, EAA; methodology, OAA-B, AAS, SE-H; investigation, OAA-B, AAS; EAA, OAA-B, original draft preparation; OAA-B, EAA, MAA, MRA, data curation, writing review and editing.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article only.

Additional information

Funding

Open access funding provided by The Science, Technology & Innovation Funding Authority (STDF) in cooperation with The Egyptian Knowledge Bank (EKB). No funding provided.