Sustainable Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles using Epipremnum aureum Leaf Extract: Application in Copper Ion Sensing and Antimicrobial Activity

This work presents a sustainable approach to produce silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using extracts from Epipremnum aureum leaves under ambient conditions without the use of toxic chemicals. Various analytical techniques such as UV-visible, FTIR, powder XRD, EDX, HRTEM, SEM and TGA were employed to characterize the prepared AgNPs. The synthesized AgNPs were spherical with sizes ranging from 5.72 nm to 30.33 nm and exhibited a surface plasma resonance at 419 nm. The presence of Ag was ascertained using EDX spectroscopy. The optical band gap of AgNPs was 2.17 eV, which showed effective antimicrobial activity compared to AgNO3 solution. Using AgNPs, the agar-well diffusion method showed high antimicrobial activity against Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli compared to the disc diffusion method. The prepared AgNPs were successful in detecting selectively Cu2+ ion within 1 min with a limit of detection of 0.1 mg/L.