Modification of diatom using silver nanoparticle to improve antimicrobial activity

Abstract

Marine microalgae (Diatoms, DE) acting as a cost-effective natural source of silicon have been used in a large variety of applications in several biotechnology sectors. Adding silver nanoparticles onto the diatom surface, could be motivated to obtain Ag-DE/NPs. Marine algae derivatives are promising as innovative applicants in antibacterial drug discovery. The antibacterial activity of the diatom (DE) collected from Alfayoum-Egypt and the silver diatom nanoparticles (Ag-DE/NPs) were synthesized through the reaction of Tollens’ reagent, by which silver particles were consistently deposited on the surface of diatomite and examined against five microorganisms. The physio-chemical properties of both DE and (Ag-DE/NPs) were characterized using XRD analysis, SEM/EDX and surface area. The current study was designed to examine the efficiency of DE & Ag-DE/NPs against pathogenic microorganisms. Our study highlighted that the antimicrobial activity of (Ag-DE/NPs) is greater than the antibacterial activity of DE. The cytotoxicity results revealed that DE and Ag-DE/NPs had no toxic effect on normal cells and could be used safely in solving antibiotic resistant strains.