Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles: Antimicrobial potential and chemosensing of a mutagenic drug nitrofurazone in real samples

Mutagenic drugs (e.g. nitrofurazone) introduce highly toxic pollutants in the environment, thus establishing simple and economical assay for their strict monitoring is significantly important at trace levels. In the present study, Tasmanian flax-lily dried leaves aqueous extract was used to synthesize silver nanoparticles (D-AgNPs) using biogenic reduction method. Synthesized D-AgNPs served as green sensor for mutagenic drug nitrofurazone (NFZ) demonstrating excellent selectivity and sensitivity in environmental, clinical and poultry samples with excellent recovery rates (up to 100%). Typical SPR peak at 450 nm along with spectroscopy (UV-visible/ FTIR), electron microscopy (SEM/EDS/ TEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) techniques established the synthesis and mechanism of interaction. The limit of detection and quantification were found to be 2.71 and 8.22 nM, respectively. Devoid of any cellular toxicity and higher stability the synthesized nanoparticles offered very potent antimicrobial, antibiofilm and biofilm eradicating activities, suggest promising potential application in different fields of environmental, clinical and food sciences.

Automated summary

This study utilized a biogenic reduction method to synthesize silver nanoparticles using Tasmanian flax-lily dried leaves aqueous extract, which demonstrated excellent selectivity and sensitivity for the mutagenic drug nitrofurazone. Various techniques were employed to establish the synthesis mechanism, and the synthesized nanoparticles showed potential applications in various fields with promising antimicrobial and biofilm eradicating activities.