Synthesis, characterization, and comparative assessment of antimicrobial properties and cytotoxicity of graphene‐, silver‐, and zinc‐based nanomaterials
Oindrila Hossain, Ehsanur Rahman, Hridoy Roy, Md. Shafiul Azam, Shoeb Ahmed
Abstract
Abstract Zinc oxide (ZnO) and graphene oxide (GO) nanoparticles, silver/zinc zeolite (Ag/Zn‐Ze), and graphene oxide‐silver (GO‐Ag) nanocomposites were synthesized and characterized with X‐ray powder Diffraction, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope and Fourier Transform‐Infrared Spectroscopy. The antibacterial efficacy of these nanoparticles was evaluated against E. coli . by shake flask method and plate culture method for different concentrations. For 10 5 cells/mL initial bacterial concentration, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) were <160, <320, <320, and >1280 μg/mL, and antibacterial concentration at which 50% cells are inhibited (IC 50 ) were 47, 90, 78, and 250 μg/mL for Ag/Zn‐Ze, GO, GO‐Ag, and ZnO, respectively. Therefore, the shake flask method showed that for all nanoparticle concentrations, Ag/Zn‐Ze, and GO‐Ag exhibited greater inhibition efficacy, which was also highly dependent on initial bacterial concentration. However, in case of the plate culture method, similar range of inhibition capacity was found for Ag/Zn‐Ze, GO‐Ag, and ZnO, whereas GO showed lower potency to inhibit E. coli . In addition, GO‐Ag nanocomposite exhibited more efficacy than Ag/Zn‐Ze when the antibacterial surface was prepared with those. However, Ag/Zn‐Ze showed no toxicity on Vero cells, whereas GO‐Ag exhibited severe toxicity at higher concentrations. This study establishes GO‐Ag and Ag/Zn‐Ze as potent antimicrobial agents; however, their application dosage should carefully be chosen based on cytotoxic effects of GO‐Ag in case of any possible physiological interaction.