Synthesis of silver nanoparticles by green chemistry method using plant extracts and its application

Abstract

Background Nanotechnology is an emerging area of research in 21st century and is found to be the basis of many main technological innovations. Nanoparticles have become one of the most active areas of research in the field of drug delivery due to their capacity to deliver various drugs to the target, at appropriate times and in the right dosage. Metallic nanoparticles like silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been gaining importance due to their unique electronic, optical, mechanical, magnetic, chemical properties and are well known for its antimicrobial properties since long. In ancient times, Greeks and Romans widely exploited antimicrobial effects of silver and its compounds but its utility had diminished due to its inherent toxicity and advent of new antibiotics. Recently, emergence of multidrug resistance to existing antibacterial agents has led to renewed attention in use of silver as antimicrobial agent. Hence, it is important to have a nontoxic, lower, but active (effective) concentration of silver which could successively give anticipated therapeutic outcome with minimal toxicity. Objectives 1. To synthesize of AgNPs by green chemistry method using aqueous extract of Salacia chinensis (SC) and Ammania baccifera (AB) and its characterization by advanced analytical techniques. 2. To study the antimicrobial effect of green synthesized biocompatible AgNPs xx Methodology: AgNPs were synthesized by green chemistry method using aqueous extract of SC and AB. Formation of AgNPs was initially assessed by visual color change and confirmed by UV-visible spectroscopy. AgNPs were purified from the biomatrix by using high speed refrigerated centrifuge at 17000 rpm at 4°C for 20 min followed by washing thrice with deionized water. Purified AgNPs were characterized by using zetasizer, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Inductive coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), Atomic force microscopy (AFM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron m