Innovative Preparation of Cellulose-Mediated Silver Nanoparticles for Multipurpose Applications: Experiment and Molecular Docking Studies

Arularasu M Visagamani; Durairaj Shanthi; Appusamy Muthukrishnaraj; Babu Venkatadri; J Irshad Ahamed; Kasinathan Kaviyarasu

doi:10.1021/acsomega.3c02432

Innovative Preparation of Cellulose-Mediated Silver Nanoparticles for Multipurpose Applications: Experiment and Molecular Docking Studies

ACS Omega. 2023 Oct 10;8(42):38860-38870. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.3c02432. eCollection 2023 Oct 24.

Authors

Arularasu M Visagamani¹, Durairaj Shanthi², Appusamy Muthukrishnaraj³, Babu Venkatadri⁴, J Irshad Ahamed⁵, Kasinathan Kaviyarasu^{6

7}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Electronic Engineering, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan.
² Department of Chemistry, VelTech MultiTech Dr. Rangarajan Dr. Sakunthala Engineering College, Avadi, Chennai 600062, India.
³ Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, Karpagam Academy of Higher Education, Coimbatore 641021, Tamil Nadu, India.
⁴ Department of Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, 80708 Taiwan, ROC.
⁵ Department of Chemistry, Kandaswami Naidu College for Men, Anna Nagar East, Chennai 600102, India.
⁶ UNESCO-UNISA Africa Chair in Nanosciences/Nanotechnology Laboratories, College of Graduate Studies, University of South Africa (UNISA), Muckleneuk Ridge, Pretoria 0002, South Africa.
⁷ Nanosciences African Network (NANOAFNET), Materials Research Group (MRG), iThemba LABS-National Research Foundation (NRF), 1 Old Faure Road, Somerset West 7129, Western Cape, South Africa.

Abstract

In recent years, inorganic metal nanoparticle fabrication by extraction of a different part of the plant has been gaining more importance. In this research, cellulose-mediated Ag nanoparticles (cellulose/Ag NPs) with excellent antibacterial and antioxidant properties and photocatalytic activity have been synthesized by the microwave-assisted hydrothermal method. This method is a green, simple, and low-cost method that does not use any other capping or reducing agents. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), field emission scanning microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), and UV-visible spectroscopic techniques were used to investigate the structure, morphology, as well as components of the generated cellulose/Ag NPs. In fact, XRD results confirm the formation of the face-centered cubic phase of Ag nanoparticles, while the FTIR spectra showed that the synergy of carbohydrates and proteins is responsible for the formation of cellulose/Ag NPs by the green method. It was found that the green-synthesized silver nanoparticles showed good crystallinity and a size range of about 20-30 nm. The morphology results showed that cellulose has a cavity-like structure and the green-synthesized Ag NPs were dispersed throughout the cellulose polymer matrix. In comparison to cellulose/Ag NPs and Ag nanoparticles, cellulose/Ag NPs demonstrated excellent antibacterial activity, Proteus mirabilis (MTCC 1771) possessed a maximum inhibition zone of 18.81.5 mm at 2.5 g/mL, and Staphylococcus aureus (MTTC 3615) had a minimum inhibition zone of 11.30.5 mm at 0.5 g/mL. Furthermore, cellulose/Ag NPs also exhibited a significant radical scavenging property against the DDPH free radical, and there was a higher degradation efficiency compared to pure Ag NPs against Rhodamine B as 97.38% removal was achieved. Notably, cellulose/Ag NPs remarkably promoted the transfer and separation of photogenerated electron-hole (e^-/h⁺) pairs, thereby offering prospective application of the photodegradation efficiency for Rhodamine B (RhB) as well as antibacterial applications. With the findings from this study, we could develop efficient and environmentally friendly cellulose/Ag nanoparticles using low-cost, environmentally friendly materials, making them suitable for industrial and technological applications.