Green synthesis of iron oxide nanoparticles using Jatropha tanjorensis aqueous leaf extract and evaluation of their antimicrobial activity

Abstract

The need for environmentally benign nanoparticle production techniques is increasing as a result of existing technologies' negative effects on the environment. An environmentally responsible and sustainable method of producing iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) is the green synthesis, which uses an aqueous leaf extract from Jatropha tanjorensis. Because of its rich phytochemical content, an aqueous leaf extract of Jatropha tanjorensis (J.T.) was used as a reducing and stabilizing agent to enable the successful environmentally friendly synthesis of stable and evenly dispersed iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs). A 0.6 M ferric chloride solution was combined with prepared Jatropha aqueous leaf extract in an optimal 1:4 ratio, causing the solution to become brown instead of green. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and ultravioletvisible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometry were used to characterize the green-synthesized iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs). According to these investigations, IONPs were spherically formed, crystalline, naturally stabilized, and within nanoscale dimensions. Gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria and fungi were used to test the synthetic IONPs' antimicrobial potential. Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were found to have an obvious zone of inhibition, however Candida albicans did not exhibit a defined zone. Iron oxide nanoparticles can be thought of as broad-band antibiotics because they were effective against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. As a result, it can be applied as an antibacterial agent to prevent detrimental bacteria from growing. Such findings provide a promising substitute for traditional chemical synthesis techniques and add to the expanding corpus of research on green nanotechnology and its uses in environmental science and medicine.