Study of antimicrobial activity of Thespesia populnea-coated nanozirconium on cotton gauze fabrics

Abstract

Indian traditional medicinal plants are important sources of phytotherapeutic agents. Plants with antimicrobial properties have been involved in the treatment of infectious diseases and also, in mitigating the side effects produced by the synthetic antimicrobial agents. Hence, the present work has been focused on the study the antimicrobial activity of Thespesia populnea extract-coated nano-zirconium on cotton gauze fabrics. UV–Vis spectroscopy showed the strong peaks produced by Zr nanoparticle after 200 nm, which indicated that T. populnea-coated Zr nanoparticles would possess antimicrobial activity. The crystalline nature of the nanoparticles was confirmed by XRD analysis and the smaller size of the nanoparticles about 10 nm was observed using TEM analysis. The antimicrobial activity of T. populnea extract-coated Zr nanoparticles was studied by well diffusion against pathogens such as E. coli, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the Zr nanoparticles showed a high toxicity against the bacterial species studied. The antimicrobial activity suggests that the synthesized nanoparticles can be used in wounds dressings.