Eco-friendly synthesis of silver nanoparticles from Clerodendrum viscosum leaf extract and its antibacterial potential

Nanoparticles are at the leading edge of the rapidly developing field of nanotechnology. Silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) have received considerable attention due to their attractive physical, chemical, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and wound healing properties. This paper reports simple, cost effective and eco-friendly method for the preparation of Ag-NPs from leaf extracts of Clerodendrum viscosum using silver nitrate solution as the metal precursor.

The synthesis of nanoparticles was done by using the aqueous solution of Clerodendrum viscosum leaf extract and AgNO3. The formation of nanoparticles was confirmed by the change of colour to dark brown due to the phenomenon of surface plasmon resonance. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by UV-Vis spectrophotometer, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and Fourier Transform Infra-red Spectroscopy (FTIR) techniques. In addition, the antibacterial activity was tested by agar disc diffusion method against some bacteria.

The formation of silver nanoparticles was confirmed by the presence of an absorption peak at 422 nm. The images of the electron microscope showed that the nanoparticles were spherical and had an average size about 56 nm at 25ºC and 53 nm at 60ºC. The X-ray diffraction was clearly proven that the nanoparticles were crystalline nature. The results of microbial test also indicated that the synthesized nanoparticles had significant antibacterial activity.

This experiment showed that leaf extracts of Clerodendrum viscosum can be used for eco-friendly synthesis of nanoparticles, which also have potential antibacterial effect.