Abstract

ANTIBACTERIAL AND PHOTOCATALYTIC ACTIVITIES OF SILVER NANOPARTICLES SYNTHESIZED BY LITCHI CHINENSIS LEAVES EXTRACT

Geeta Badola and D. S. Negi*

Abstract

In the present study, silver nanoparticles were synthesized using litchi chinensis leaves extract as reducing as well as capping agents. The addition of plant leaf extract to silver nitrate solution results in the colour change of the solution, indicating the formation of silver nanoparticles. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction(XRD), Dynamic light scattering (DLS), FTIR and Transmission electron microscopy(TEM). The XRD analysis shows that the AgNPs are of face centered cubic(FCC) structure. DLS revealed that nanoparticles show polydispersity at 0.255 indexing. TEM analysis showed that the synthesized AgNPs have spherical shape. The photocatalytic activity of the synthesized silver nanoparticles was examined by degradation of methylene blue under sunlight irradiation. The synthesized silver nanoparticles also showed significant antimicrobial potential against gram's positive Staphylococcus aureus and bacillus subtilis and grams negative bacteria Salmonella typhi.

Keywords: Litchi chinensis, silver nanoparticles, XRD, TEM, Antimicrobial activity.