Synthesis, Characterization, and Assessment of Anticancer Activity of Green ZnO/MgO Bimetallic Nanoparticles against Breast Cancer Cells

Abstract Synthesis of metallic nanoparticles (NPs) through a rapid, safe, chemical solvent‐ and agents‐free, and environmentally benign method has gained significant importance. In this study, ZnO/MgO bimetallic nanoparticle (BmNP) are successfully synthesized using Echium amoenum flower extract as a bioreducing and biostabilizing agent. To attain high‐efficiency synthesis of the BmNPs, the effect of synthesis parameters such as reaction pH, plant extract concentration, and reaction temperature is investigated systematically. The highest production yield of 95.4% is achieved at pH 6, using a plant concentration of 50 mg mL −1 , and maintaining a temperature of 60 °C. Under the optimal conditions, the BmNPs are synthesized and thoroughly characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDS), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE‐SEM), nitrogen gas physisorption, and dynamic light scattering (DLS) to elucidate the bioreduction process and determine the physicochemical properties of the BmNPs. In addition, the anticancer effectiveness of the synthesized BmNPs is assessed using Michigan Cancer Foundation‐7 (MCF‐7) breast cancer cells, revealing that the produced BmNPs effectively inhibit the MCF‐7 cancer cells with a half‐maximal (50%) inhibitory concentration of 94.40 µg mL −1 . These findings are encouraging for the large‐scale production of BmNPs and their biomedical application points of view.