Abstract:
Microbial infections are considered as a serious issue in human health worldwide. On the
other hand, Free radicals can cause damage to parts of cells such as proteins, DNA, and
cell membranes. The advancement of nanotechnology based on bio-synthesis of medicinal
plant supported nanoparticles has improved therapeutic capacity of NiO and Ag-NiO
nanomaterials. The aim of this study was to synthesize NiO and Ag-NiO nanomaterials
using Musa acuminate extract for their antibacterial and antioxidant activities. The
nanomaterials were synthesized by reducing Ni(NO3)2.6H2O and AgNO3 solution with
Musa acuminate peel extract. The study was developed by optimizing parameters like
concentration of precursor, amount of Musa acuminate peel extract, temperature, time, and
pH. The synthesized nanomaterials were characterized by UV-Vis, FT-IR spectroscopic
techniques, Powder XRD, and SEM analysis. The UV-Vis analysis showed a red shift as
silver doped indicating a decrease in the optical bandgap values. FT-IR characterization
confirms the presence of various functional groups present in the samples. From the XRD
data, crystalline sizes of the formed NiO and Ag-NiO nanomaterials were obtained and to
be 11.89 and 13.27 nm respectively. SEM showed that most of the particles were spherical
in shape. The synthesized NiO and Ag-NiO nanomaterials were tested for antibacterial
activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial pathogen. Antioxidant activity
was tested using DPPH assays at different concentrations of test samples and ascorbic acid
was used as standard. NiO and Ag-NiO nanomaterials showed highested antibacterial
activities against Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus than Salmonella typhi, and
Escherichia coli. From antioxidant test, NiO and Ag-NiO nanomaterials prevented the
oxidation of 50% of the DPPH at a concentration of 21.50 μg/mL and 19.74 μg/mL
respectively. Generally, the synthesized nanomaterials showed good antibacterial and
antioxidant activities.
