Photobiologic-mediated fabrication of silver nanoparticles with antibacterial activity

Abstract We present the simple, eco-friendly synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using sunlight or green, red, blue, or white LED light together with Dryopteris crassirhizoma rhizome extract (DCRE) as the reducing and capping agent. The preliminary indication of AgNP production was a color change from yellowish green to brown after light exposure in the presence of DCRE. Optimization of parameters such as pH, inoculum dose, and metal ion concentration played an important role in achieving nanoparticle production in 30 min. The spectroscopic and morphological properties of AgNPs were characterized using UV–Vis spectroscopy through the presence of a characteristic surface plasmon resonance (SPR) band for AgNPs, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The FT-IR results indicated that the phytochemical present in DCRE was the probable reducing/capping agent involved in the synthesis of AgNPs, and light radiation enhanced nanoparticle production. HR-TEM revealed that the AgNPs were almost spherical with an average size of 5–60 nm under all light sources. XRD studies confirmed the face cubic center (fcc) unit cell structure of AgNPs. The synthesized AgNPs showed good antimicrobial activity against Bacillus cereus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This study will bring a new insight in ecofriendly production of metal nanoparticles.