Dandelion flower-fabricated Ag nanoparticles versus synthetic ones with characterization and determination of photocatalytic, antioxidant, antibacterial, and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities

In the present work, Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were fabricated through the dandelion flower hydroalcoholic extract, and their properties were characterized by FTIR, XRD, UV visible, SEM, and EDX. The results demonstrated that the average diameter of the green fabricated AgNPs is 45–55 nm (G-AgNPs). The antioxidant, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, and photocatalytic properties of G-AgNPs were compared with two commercially available different diameter sizes (20 and 80–100 nm) of AgNPs (C-AgNPs1- and C-AgNPs2, respectively). The sample's capacity for antioxidants was evaluated by DPPH free radical scavenging method. The consequences showed that G-AgNPs have higher radical scavenging activity (47.8%) than C-AgNPs2 (39.49%) and C-AgNPs1 (33.91%). To investigate the photocatalytic property, methylene blue dye was used. The results displayed that G-AgNPs is an effective photo-catalyst compared to C-AgNPs2 and C-AgNPs1, which respectively have an inhibition potential of 75.22, 51.94, and 56.65%. Also, the antimicrobial capacity of nanoparticles was assayed against, the gram-negative Escherichia coli and gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. The results indicated that G-AgNPs could effectively inhibit the growth of both bacteria, compared to C-AgNPs1 and C-AgNPs2. Finally, G-AgNPs exhibited a considerable α-glucosidase enzyme inhibitory effect (88.37%) in comparison with C-AgNPs1 (61.7%) and C-AgNPs2 (50.5%).