Abstract

BIOSYNTHESIS OF SELENIUM NANOPARTICLES USING CITRUS RETICULATA PEEL EXTRACT

Santanu Sasidharan, Sowmiya.R, Balakrishnaraja.R*

Abstract

In the past 60 years, antibiotics have been critical in the fight against infectious diseases caused by bacteria and other microbes. Due to increased resistance against antibiotics developed by the microbes, there has been a steep decline in their usage worldwide. Selenium is an essential trace element with a narrow margin between beneficial and toxic effects. Selenium has effect on microbes which are essential to clinical applications. An environmentally friendly route has been used for synthesizing selenium nanoparticles using an orange peel extract as both reducing and stabilizing agent. The characterization of the nanoparticle synthesis were conducted at various temperatures ranging from 20˚C to 80˚C and pH ranging from 2 to 12.The orange peel extract was found to be more efficient in reducing sodium selenite to selenium nanoparticle of spherical shape. The synthesized nanoparticle were characterized using ultraviolet (UV)-Vis spectrophotometer and scanning electron microscopy. The anti-algal activity of the selenium nanoparticles were tested and found to be effective in inhibiting algal blooms.

Keywords: Sodium Selenite, nanoparticles and Scanning Electron Microscopy.