Photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue and antibacterial activity of silver nanoparticles synthesized from Camellia sinensis leaf extract

Abstract

Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) has attracted substantial interest and achievement due to their environmental friendliness, ease of manipulation, and potential for large-scale production. By using aqueous Camellia sinensis leaf extract, suspensions of AgNPs, which possess photocatalytic and biological activity, were successfully synthesized in this study. The reduction of silver ions to AgNPs was visually inspected via the colour of the reaction mixture, which was altered from pale yellow to reddish brown. The methods of characterization of the as-synthesized AgNPs were performed using Ultraviolet-Visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), dynamic light scattering technique (DLS), and X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). The surface plasmon resonance bands of AgNPs at 420-430 nm in UV-Vis spectra indicated the presence of silver particles at the nanoscale. The size of AgNPs was determined by DLS, ranging from 25 nm to 40 nm. XRD analysis showed that AgNPs were highly pure and crystalline. The antibacterial activity of AgNPs against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains, including Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, respectively, was demonstrated by the disc diffusion method. The examination of the photocatalytic activity of AgNPs was conducted through methylene blue (MB) degrading experiments, and the MB degrading performance was approximately 95% within 72 h under sunlight.