Porous silicon nanoparticles prepared via an improved method: a developing strategy for a successful antimicrobial agent against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus

• Published in: IOP conference series. Materials Science and Engineering Vol. 454; no. 1; pp. 12077 - 12085
• Main Authors: Jabir, Majid S., Nayef, Uday M., Jawad, Kareem H., Taqi, Zainab J., H, Buthenhia A., Ahmed, Nada R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bristol IOP Publishing 01.12.2018
• Subjects: Amoxicillin; Antibiotics; Antimicrobial activity; Antimicrobial agents; Bacteria; Cephalexin; E coli; Electrochemical etching; FTIR; Functional groups; improved electrochemical etching; Lasers; Membranes; Morphology; Nanoparticles; Neodymium lasers; Nucleic acids; Porous silicon; Porous silicon nanoparticles; SEM; Semiconductor lasers; Synthesis; YAG lasers
• ISSN: 1757-8981; 1757-899X; 1757-899X
• DOI: 10.1088/1757-899X/454/1/012077

One of the commonest nanoparticles with unique properties is porous silicon nanoparticles (PSNPs). This study aims to prepare PSNPs via an improved method, followed by the investigation of the antimicrobial activity of the synthesized PSPNs against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The synthesis of the PSNPs was executed via a modified electrochemical etching process. After the synthesis, the obtained liquid PSNPs were subjected to laser treatment under an Nd-YAG laser condition of laser energy 350 mJ, and wavelength 1064 nm. The synthesized PSNPs were further characterized for functional groups and surface morphology using Fourier transfer infrared (FTIR) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), respectively. With E. coli and S. aureusas the commonest implicated organisms in both adult and childreninfections,there is a need to explore novel antimicrobial agents rather than antibiotics for curtailing these bacterial species. The synthesized PSNPs showed potential antibacterial activity against the studied organisms, although the observed antibacterial activities after the combination of PSNPs with Amoxicillin and Cephalexin were higher compared to the activity of PSNPs alone. These complexes were observed to act on the bacterial cytoplasmic membrane and nucleic acid which resulted in an improved cellular permeability due to the loss of membrane integrity and nucleic acid damage. However, there is a need to further investigate the antibacterial activity of PSNPs and its complexes with other antibacterial agents against other disease-causing by other bacterial species.