Synthesis of N-myristoyltaurine stabilized gold and silver nanoparticles: Assessment of their catalytic activity, antimicrobial effectiveness and toxicity in zebrafish

Abstract

In this paper, the application of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) synthesized using a biomimetic lipid, N-myristoyltaurine (N14T) was evaluated in common fields. The catalytic effectiveness of AgNPs and AuNPs was studied in the popular nanocatalyst reaction, nitroaromatic reduction, and dye degradation. Both NPs display catalytic activity in the nitroaromatic compound and organic dyes reduction reaction involving sodium borohydride and the rate constant is estimated as 10−3 s−1. Strikingly, the reaction initiation time (t0) and completion time (tc) differ significantly between AgNPs and AuNPs. Analyzing the reaction kinetic profile revealed that the reaction carried out with AuNPs showed a shorter t0 and tc, suggesting a better catalyst than AgNPs. In addition, the efficiency of the NPs was examined in Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis) and Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa). In difference to the catalytic study, AuNPs display poor antibacterial activity. Whereas AgNPs kill the tested bacteria at 250 μM via disturbing bacterial membrane integrity and produce excess reactive oxygen species. The toxicology study carried out with zebrafish animal model reveals that both AgNPs and AuNPs are non-toxic. The findings suggest that each nanomaterial possesses unique physicochemical properties irrespective of stabilization with the same molecules.