Extracellular Biosynthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Using Fungi Penicillium diversum and Their Antimicrobial Activity Studies

Abstract

In this present investigation, we report a simple, cost-effective, and eco-friendly method of synthesizing colloidal silver nanoparticles by using fungi Penicillium diversum. UV-visible spectroscopy studies were carried out to quantify the formation of silver nanoparticles. The X-ray diffraction pattern suggests the crystallinity of silver nanoparticles. Atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy images show that the silver nanoparticles are polydispersed and are in a size range of 5 to 45 nm with an average size of 20 nm. From the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, we presume that the reductase enzyme present in the fungal extract may be responsible for the reduction and stabilization of the silver nanoparticles. The resultant silver nanoparticles showed effective antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Vibrio cholerae, and the clinical isolate of Paratyphia. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.