Bio-assisted synthesis of bi-metallic (Ag-Zn) nanoparticles by leaf extract of Azadirachta indica and its antimicrobial properties

In the last decade, the bio-assisted synthesis of nanoparticles has been significantly exploited seeing the shortfall of chemical synthesis and urgent need to find the substitution. The chemical synthesis of nanoparticles is a rapid process, which might be appealing in various frontiers but has got some serious issues to take care of. In pursuit of finding a process that is cleaner, non-toxic, eco-friendly, low cost, and renewable, natured introduces us to the prospect of biosynthesis. In our study, we have successfully prepared bimetallic nanoparticles through a bio-assisted route. We have formed (Ag-Zn) silver doped zinc oxide nanoparticles with the help of an aqueous leaf extract of Azadirachta indica. Ag-Zn nanoparticles were further characterized by FTIR, P-XRD, SEM-EDX methods. The data obtained from X-ray diffraction has shown the peaks of silver doped zinc at ۲θ value ۳۸.۱o thereby telling particle size is approx. ۱۲.۵۳ nm size as calculated by Scherrer’s equation. FTIR analysis gave characteristic peaks of functional groups. SEM-EDX confirmed successful doping and grain size of the particle. The study has further characterized the anti-microbial activities of the Ag-Zn BMNPs (Bi-metallic nanopartilces) with the help of the Kirby-Bauer method showing maximum inhibition of Streptococcus aureus species. The result of the study can be advantageous to develop an understanding of the development of nano-based medicine.

Keywords:

Antimicrobial , Azadirachta indica , Bio-Assisted , nanoparticles , nanotechnology