Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2016) 131: 74
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/i2016-16074-x

Regular Article

Luminescence and antibacterial studies of silver nanoparticles using the esterases-containing latex of E. Tirucalli plant via green route

¹ Department of Chemistry, BMS Institute of Technology and Management, 560064, Bangalore, India
² Department of Physics, BMS Institute of Technology and Management, 560064, Bangalore, India

^* e-mail: sudheerkh.158@gmail.com

Received: 12 June 2015
Accepted: 5 February 2016
Published online: 4 April 2016

Abstract

Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) synthesized from silver nitrate solutions using the esterase-containing latex of the E. Tirucalli plant widely found in a large region in Karnataka, India. Plant-mediated synthesis of nanoparticles is a green chemistry approach that intercom-nects nanotechnology and plant biotechnology. The effect of extract concentration, contact time, and temperature on the reaction rate and the shape of the Ag nanoparticles was investigated. The nanoparticles have been characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, UV-visible spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy and morphology by scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscopy, as a function of the ratio of silver ions to reducing agent molecules. Powder X-ray diffraction patterns show that the crystal structure obtained is face-centered cubic (fcc). The morphology of the silver nanoparticle was uniform with well-distributed elliptical particles with a range from 15 to 25nm. Ag NPs exhibit significant antibacterial activity against Bacillus cereus using the agar well diffusion method.