Evaluation of Antimicrobial Activity of Ionic Liquid-Assisted Synthesis of Monometallic Silver and Bimetallic Copper-silver Nanoparticles

Abstract

The formation of monometallic silver and bimetallic copper-silver nanoparticles in 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium methanesulfonate ionic liquid, through chemical reduction is reported. The synthesized particles were characterized using SEM/EDX, UV-vis, and FTIR spectroscopy. UV-vis and FTIR revealed the formation of nanoparticles with active components being adsorbed on the surface of the particles, as stabilizers. SEM revealed uniformed microspheres and microcubes for AgNPs and AgCuNPs, respectively. On the bactericidal and fungicidal activity of AgNPs and AgCuNPs against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Klebseilla pneumonia (bacteria) and Candidaalbicans (fungus), we observed that AgNPs inhibited Pseudomonas aeruginosa (23 mm) and Candida albicans (29 mm) higher than the bimetallic particles and the antibiotics used as control. It is interesting to note that AgCuNPs inhibited Staphylococcus aureus (21 mm) better than AgNPs (15 mm) indicative of the synergistic effect of two metals.