Abstract
This study was focused on the extract retrieval from Prosopis juliflora leaves and their use in the biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). The as-synthesized AgNPs were characterized by FTIR, FESEM, XRD and EDX analyses in order to determine the functional groups, morphology, crystal structure, and elemental composition of the samples. The extract produced metallic Ag and Ag2O crystalline form of the AgNPs as revealed by XRD experiment. The synthesized AgNPs were used for their evaluation in the studies of antimicrobial as well as water decontamination from common pollutants. The synthesized AgNPs were found to catalyze the 2-nitrophenol (2-NPh) and methylene orange dye (MO) reduction by sodium borohydride with reaction rate constants of 0.352 and 0.134 min(-1) in the water decontamination studies. The antimicrobial effect of the bio-synthesized AgNPs was studied using multi-drug resistant strain of Staphylococcus aureus as the model bacterial species and Candida albicans and Candida tropicalis as the model fungi strains. It was revealed that at a very dosage of the Prosopis juliflora extract-assisted synthesized AgNPs, the stated micro-organisms were unable to survive.