Seaweed Mediated Fabrication of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles and their Antibacterial, Antifungal and Anticancer Applications
K.P. Anjali, B. Sangeetha, R. Raghunathan, M. Geetha Devi, Susmita Dutta
Abstract
Abstract Synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) using aqueous extracts of seaweeds, Ulva lactuca , and Stoechospermum marginatum and their antibacterial, antifungal and anticancer activity have been reported. The UV absorption peaks at 310 nm and 345 nm confirmed the formation of ZnO NPs using U.lactuca (Ul‐ZnO) and S.marginatum (Sm‐ZnO), respectively. The XRD patterns indicated the crystalline nature of ZnO NPs with hexagonal wurtzite structure. The transmission electron microscopic analysis revealed that the ZnO NPs contain spherical and round‐shaped particles with a size range of 12–17 nm for Ul‐ZnO and 6–11 nm for Sm‐ZnO NPs. The antibacterial activity and antifungal activity of both the NPs (Sm‐ZnO and Ul‐ZnO) were comparable. The results of the cytotoxicity assay of Ul‐ZnO and Sm‐ZnO NPs revealed that Ul‐ZnO NPs recorded the maximum mortality rate of 97.34 % with an IC 50 value of 91.18 μg/ml.