Mn<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> nanoparticles bearing 5-amino-2-mercapto benzimidazole moiety as antibacterial and antifungal agents
S. Philip Raja, K. Jayamoorthy, K.I. Dhanalekshmi, S. Suresh
Abstract
The antibacterial and antifungal effects of non-functionalized and surface-functionalized Mn3O4 nanoparticles were comparatively analyzed to reason out the potential changes in antimicrobial activities due to functionalization with 5-amino-2-mercapto benzimidazole (AMB) molecule. The surface functionalization of Mn3O4 nanoparticles with AMB molecule was confirmed by the XRD result, which shows the shift in 2θ values with noticeable peaks. The surface morphology and functionalization of Mn3O4 nanoparticles were additionally confirmed by HR-SEM and EDAX studies. Antimicrobial activities were investigated by an agar-well-diffusion method using the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and fungi Aspergillus niger. The functionalized Mn3O4 nanoparticles possess remarkable antibacterial and antifungal effect than the non-functionalized Mn3O4 nanoparticles and AMB molecule. The coating of low energy surface layer over metal oxide nanoparticles such as Mn3O4 offers an active surface toward both transfer of electron and the adsorption or desorption of water, inorganic ions, and other molecules, which leads to the increased antimicrobial activity of f-Mn3O4 nanoparticles.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma