Green synthesis of novel Ag–Cu and Ag–Znbimetallic nanoparticles and their in vitro biological, eco-toxicity and catalytic studies

Bimetallic nanoparticles (BNPs) have attained significant importance in biomedical field because of its higher surface area to volume and enhanced biological properties. In this work, we have fabricated Ag–Cu and Ag–ZnBNPs from a traditional medicinal plant – Annona muricata. The BNPs fabricated were characterized using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) for morphology and elemental compositional analysis. The bactericidal effect of BNPs was studied using Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus through disc diffusion method (DDM) along with mode of inhibition through microbial membrane disruption assay. The Ag–Cu BNPs demonstrated comparatively higher activity with Ag–Zn BNPs in protein denaturation inhibition (52.72 ± 3.74 and 70.7 ±6.07 μg/mL), anti-diabetic (29.99 ± 2.86 and 34.47 ±2.00 μg/mL), anti-oxidative (75.08 ± 6.05 and >100 μg/mL) and anti-cancer (66.69 ± 4.82 and >100 μg/mL) studies. Further, Ag–Cu BNPs (96% degradation in 40 min for rh-B whereas 94% degradation in 25 min for MO) showed better catalytic potential compared to Ag–Zn BNPs (95% degradation in 80 min for rh-B whereas 96% degradation in 45 min for MO). Eco-toxicity studies through employing Artemia nauplii revealed that Ag–Zn BNPs were more toxic compared to Ag–Cu BNPs.