Biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles by banana pulp extract: Characterizations, antibacterial activity, and bioelectricity generation

Heliyon. 2024 Feb 1;10(3):e25520. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e25520. eCollection 2024 Feb 15.

Abstract

Here, green banana pulp extract (PE) has been used as a bio-reducing agent for the reduction of silver ions to silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). Bio-synthesized AgNPs were characterized by using UV, XRD, FEEM, TEM, and FTIR analysis. The face-centered cubic structures of AgNPs were formed with an average crystallite size of 31.26 nm and an average particle size of 42.97 nm. In this report, the electrical activities of green synthesized AgNPs have been evaluated along with the antibacterial activities. The antibacterial activities of AgNPs were evaluated against two pathogenic bacteria: Escherichia coli (gram-negative) and Staphylococcus epidermidis (gram-positive). AgNPs were added to the electrochemical cell and results demonstrated the improvement of power of the electrochemical cell. Green synthesized AgNPs showed excellent antibacterial activities against both gram-positive and negative bacteria and most importantly the NPs played an important role as an effective catalyst to enhance the electrical performance of bio-electrochemical cells. These significant findings may help in the advancement of nanotechnology in biomedical applications as well as in the creation of cheap and eco-friendly power generation devices.

Keywords: Antibacterial activities; Bio-electrochemical cell; Biosynthesis; Pulp extract; Silver nanoparticles.