Green Synthesis of Piperine/Triton X-100/Silver Nanoconjugates: Antimicrobial Activity and Cytotoxicity

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized through a green chemical approach using the piperine isolated from black pepper. The physicochemical properties of Triton X-100 coated silver nanoparticles (Triton X-100/Ag NPs) were well characterized by ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy (UV-Vis), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The TEM images confirmed the spherical shape of silver nanoparticles. The powder X-ray diffraction analysis revealed the silver nanoparticles exhibiting face-centered cubic (fcc) crystal structure with an average crystallite size of 15 nm. The cytotoxicity effects on HepG2 cells were also evaluated with a series of 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazolyl-2)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The effective toxic concentration of Triton X-100/piperine with silver nanoparticles was too low to damage HepG2 cells. The antibacterial activity results showed that the Triton X-100/piperine/AgNPs efficiently inhibited the two bacteria namely S. aureus and E. coli. The Triton X-100/piperine/AgNPs nanoconjugates were effective in inhibiting the growth of both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria S. aureus and E. coli.