Abstract
The present investigation deals with facile polyol mediated synthesis and characterization of ZnO nanoparticles and their antimicrobial activities against pathogenic microorganisms. The synthesis process was carried out by refluxing zinc acetate precursor in diethylene glycol(DEG) and triethylene glycol(TEG) in the presence and in the absence of sodium acetate for 2 h and 3 h. All synthesized ZnO nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV visible spectroscopy (UV), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), field emission scanning electron microscopy(FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) technique. All nanoparticles showed different degree of antibacterial and antibiofilm activity against Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (NCIM 2654)and Gram-negative Proteus vulgaris (NCIM 2613). The antibacterial and antibiofilm activity was inversely proportional to the size of the synthesized ZnO nanoparticles. Among all prepared particles, ZnO nanoparticles with least size (~ 15 nm) prepared by refluxing zinc acetate dihydrate in diethylene glycol for 3 h exhibited remarkable antibacterial and antibiofilm activity which may serve as potential alternatives in biomedical application.
Highlights
Biofilms are the complex communities of microorganisms attached to any biological or non-biological surface that remain enclosed in selfproduced hydrated polymeric matrix [1,2]
In order to observe the UV spectroscopy of synthesized zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles, they were sonicated in distilled water for about 15 min and UV spectra were recorded Supplementary data Fig. 1 A and B shows the UV–vis absorption spectra of the ZnO nanoparticles synthesized by using diethylene glycol (DEG) and triethylene glycol (TEG)
The initial weight loss observed was due to the evaporation of surface adsorbed water and moisture occurred in range of 145–270 °C [53] and further 2ndstage of decomposition was observed in the range of 452–490 °C due to loss of adsorbed DEG/TEG molecules in all samples and which was confirmed by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) [54]
Summary
Biofilms are the complex communities of microorganisms attached to any biological or non-biological surface that remain enclosed in selfproduced hydrated polymeric matrix [1,2]. The cells in the biofilm are inherently protected from phagocytosis, develops high resistance to antibiotics which make them difficult to treat [4,5,6,7] Both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria can form the biofilm on various medical devices such as catheters, prosthetic joints, endotracheal tubes, heart valves, contact lenses and ortho-dental instruments [8]. The synthesis method mainly involves reflux of zinc acetate dihydrate precursor in diethylene glycol (DEG) and triethylene glycol (TEG) in the presence and in absence of weak base sodium acetate for varied reaction time The effect of these two polyols, presence and absence of sodium acetate and reaction time on size and morphology of synthesized ZnO nanoparticles is presented. These nanoparticles were studied for their antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity against Staphylococcus aureus (NCIM 2654) and Proteus vulgaris (NCIM 2813)
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