Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using different volumes of Trichodesma indicum leaf extract and their antibacterial and photocatalytic activities

Abstract

Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were prepared by a green synthesis process, using Trichodesma indicum (T. indicum) leaf extract at different (5, 10 and 15 mL) concentrations. The formation of Ag NPs was confirmed by UV–Vis spectrophotometry with surface plasmon resonance at 443 nm. After this confirmation, the influence of leaf extract concentrations on the structural and surface morphological properties was studied. Along with their physical properties, antibacterial activity against pathogenic (B. cereus and E. coli) bacteria and photocatalytic de-colorization of methylene blue (MB) were examined. The XRD studies revealed that all the nanoparticles exhibited preferential orientation along the (111) plane of silver. The crystallite size decreases as the extract concentration is increased. From SEM images, it was found that the particles are spherical in shape and the size of the particles decreased drastically when the leaf extracts concentration is greater than 10 mL. The images strongly support the result observed from the SEM studies. FT-IR analysis showed that the plant compounds are involved in the reduction of Ag⁺ ions to Ag⁰. Ag NPs synthesized in 15 mL of leaf extract greatly resist the growth of both species and decomposed 82% of MB within 210 min. This ability of Ag NPs can be due to the small spherical-shaped particles and larger Ag⁺ ion release.