Abstract:
Silver nanoparticles were synthesized using Aloe vera leaf extract and coconut water as the
reducing and stabilizing agents. Aloe vera leaf extract and coconut water were separately
added to silver trioxonitrate (v) (1 mM AgNO3) solution in ratio 1:9. The solution was left for
72 hours, centrifuged and then freeze dried to obtain the particles. The synthesized silver
nanoparticles were characterized using UV-visible spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infra-red
(FTIR),X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Agar well
diffusion method was used to test the antibacterial activity of the synthesized silver
nanoparticles toward both gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus bovis) and
gram negative (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) bacteria using streptomycin as
the control.The synthesized silver nanoparticles were added to a household disinfectant and
functional textiles. Antibacterial effectiveness of the disinfectant and the functional textile
were tested toward Staphylococcus aureus,Streptococcus bovis, Escherichia coli and
Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The λmax for the synthesized silver nanoparticles using Aloe vera
leaf extract and coconut water were 420 nm and 411 nm respectively. FTIR analyses showed
that -C≡N-, N-H (amine), N-H (amide), O-H (carboxylic acid) were the possible functional
groups that were responsible for the reduction and stabilization of the nanoparticles. From the
XRD analysis, the intense peaks observed at 2θvalue range from 27.9ο, 31.95ο, 45.9ο for
synthesized silver nanoparticles using coconut waterand 17.1ο, 18.2ο, 27.56ο, 32.5ο, 38.2ο,
46.1οfor synthesized silver nanoparticles using Aloe vera extract indicated that the
synthesized silver nanoparticles were crystalline and the average particle size was calculated
to be 10.23 nm and 11.82 nm using Scherrer’s equation. The SEM analyses revealed that the
synthesized silver nanoparticles were spherical and of close uniform size.
