Abstract

Nanoparticles synthesized from sodium alginate are economically useful due to their wide applicability in various fields such as food, tissue engineering, biomedical implants and drug delivery. Sodium alginate used for synthesis of silver nanoparticles was extracted from the marine seaweed Padina tetrastromatica. The silver nanoparticles were synthesized by optimizing different parameters such as pH, temperature, time and concentration of AgNO3. Synthesized silver nanoparticle stability was successfully maintained at room temperature up to 72 hr. The synthesized silver nanoparticles were characterized for their size, morphology and surface plasmon resonance (SPR), using UV-Vis spectrum, FTIR, XRD SEM-EDX and AFM. Biosynthesized silver nanoparticles showed antibacterial activity against multidrug resistant human pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. These results suggest that silver nanoparticles can be used as effective growth inhibitors against various microorganisms, making them applicable to diverse medical devices and antimicrobial control systems. These biologically synthesized nanoparticles can also offer compatibility in pharmaceutical and biomedical applications.

Keywords: Gulf of Mannar, Padina tetrastromatica, silver nanoparticles, sodium alginate, seaweed.