Eco-friendly synthesis of silver nanoparticles from the leaf blades extract of seagrass Thalassia hemprichii: Multifunctional agents for biomedical and environmental applications

The current study reports for the first time the synthesis of environmentally friendly silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using leaf blades extract (THE) of seagrass Thalassia hemprichii. The AgNPs were described using several spectroscopic methods. The UV-visible spectral study of THE-AgNPs reported absorbance peak at 420 nm. The intrinsic stretching was seen in the FT-IR (Fourier transform infrared) spectrum inferring the presence and role of diverse functional species in the biological synthesis of AgNPs. The AgNPs reported uniform morphology, spherical shape and high stability validated by electron microscopic and zeta potential studies. The biosynthesized silver nanoparticles were employed in experiments including antibacterial, anti-diabetic (α-amylase (77%), α-glucosidase (78%) at 30 μg/ml, antioxidant (85-90%), anti-inflammatory (45-60%) properties and dye degrading properties. The antibacterial efficacy of silver nanoparticles was assessed against pathogenic species of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli reporting inhibitory zones of 13 ± 0.3 and 21 ± 0.2 mm, respectively comparable to the standard Gentamycin (22 ± 0.4 mm). The synthesized AgNPs demonstrated excellent dye degradation kinetics in non-photocatalytic dyes methyl orange (96 %; 30 min) and safranin O (95 %; 40 min) along with experimental reusability found to be satisfactorily upto 7 cycles.