Title: Caesalpinia pulcherrima mediated green synthesis of silver nanoparticles: evaluation of their antimicrobial and catalytic activity

Authors: Amol A. Dudhane; Samadhan R. Waghmode; Manohar A. Bhosale; Vaibhav P. Mhaindarkar

Addresses: Department of Biotechnology, Lokmangal Biotechnology College, Wadala, Solapur-413222, India ' Department of Microbiology, Elphinstone College, Fort, Mumbai-400032, India ' Department of Chemistry, Institute of Chemical Technology, Matunga, Mumbai-400019, India ' Department of Biotechnology, Lokmangal Biotechnology College, Wadala, Solapur-413222, India

Abstract: Plant extracts are an efficient, eco-friendly and cost-effective alternative source for the synthesis of nanoparticles. In this study, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized by treating the Caesalpinia pulcherrima (C. pulcherrima) leaf extract with aqueous solution of silver nitrate at room temperature. The biosynthesised AgNPs were characterised by techniques like transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis). The TEM analysis reveals the formation of spherical AgNPs with a diameter range of 30-50 nm. In vitro antimicrobial activity of the synthesized AgNPs was investigated against common human pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa (NCIM 5029), Serratia marcescens (NCIM 2078), Staphylococcus aureus (NCIM 5021) and Salmonella typhimurium (NCIM 2501) by agar well diffusion method. The synthesized AgNPs showed potential antimicrobial activity against all of the mentioned bacterial cultures. Furthermore, current study have shown the catalytic degradation of methylene blue dye and reduction of p-nitroaniline using synthesized AgNPs. Synthesised nanoparticles have shown excellent catalytic activity within a very short time period.

Keywords: Caesalpinia pulcherrima; silver nanoparticles; antimicrobial activity; catalytic reduction; green synthesis.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNP.2017.089195

International Journal of Nanoparticles, 2017 Vol.9 No.3, pp.153 - 165

Received: 28 Sep 2016
Accepted: 15 Apr 2017
Published online: 09 Jan 2018 *

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