Comparative Study of Antimicrobial Activity of Silver, Gold, and Silver/Gold Bimetallic Nanoparticles Synthesized by Green Approach

Abstract

Nanotechnology is one of the most recent technologies. It is uncertain whether the production of small-size nanoparticles (NPs) can be achieved through a simple, straightforward, and medicinally active phytochemical route. The present study aimed to develop an easy and justifiable method for the synthesis of Ag, Au, and their Ag/Au bimetallic NPs (BNPs) by using <i>Hippeastrum hybridum</i> (HH) extract, and then to investigate the effects of Ag, Au, and their Ag/Au BNPs as antimicrobial and phytotoxic agents. Ag, Au, and their Ag/Au BNPs were characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, FT-IR spectroscopy, XRD, EDX, and SEM analysis. XRD analysis conferring to the face of face-centered cubic crystal structure with an average size of 13.3, 10.72, and 8.34 nm of Ag, Au, and Ag/Au BNPs, respectively. SEM showed that Ag, Au, and Ag/Au BNPs had spherical morphologies, with calculated nano measurements of 40, 30, and 20 nm, respectively. The EDX analysis confirmed the composition of elemental Ag signal of the HH-AgNPs with 22.75%, Au signal of the HH-AuNPs with 48.08%, Ag signal with 12%, and Au signal with 38.26% of the Ag/Au BNPs. The Ag/Au BNPs showed an excellent antimicrobial efficacy against Gram-positive <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>, <i>Actinomycetes meriye</i>, <i>Bacillus cereus</i>, <i>Streptococcus pyogenes</i>, <i>Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus</i>, <i>Micrococcus luteus</i>, <i>Streptococcus pneumonia</i>, and Gram-negative <i>Klebsiella pneumonia</i>, <i>Escherichia coli</i>, and <i>Serratia marcescens</i> bacterial strains, as well as against three fungal strains (<i>Aspergillus niger</i>, <i>Aspergillus fumigatus</i>, and <i>Aspergillus flavus</i>) compared to HH extract, HH-AgNPs, and HH-AuNPs. However, further investigations are recommended to be able to minimize potential risks of application.