Instant green synthesis of silver-based herbo-metallic colloidal nanosuspension in Terminalia bellirica fruit aqueous extract for catalytic and antibacterial applications

In the present study, microwave-assisted, optimized, instant, Terminalia bellirica fruit extract-mediated green synthesis of colloidal silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) has been reported. The synthesized AgNPs were characterized by UV–Vis spectroscopy, FTIR, Zetasizer, FESEM, EDX and XRD. The characteristic surface plasmon peak of reaction mixture at 406 nm confirmed the synthesis of AgNPs. The FTIR studies confirmed phytoconstituents were responsible for the synthesis and stability of AgNPs. The FESEM, EDX and XRD analysis revealed the presence of spherical silver nanoparticles of mean diameter ≤20.6 nm with face-centered cubic crystalline structure. These AgNPs showed notable catalytic activity in reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol in the presence of NaBH(4). The synthesized AgNPs showed potential antibacterial and antibiofilm activity against bacterial pathogens like Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. Thus, these synthesized AgNPs can open avenues for the development of AgNP-based efficient nanocatalyst and potent nanomedicine in future. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13205-016-0589-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.