Biosynthesis of Graphene and Investigation of Antibacterial Activity of Graphene-parthenium hysterophorous Nanocomposite

HIGHLIGHTS

• Biosynthesis of graphene using extract of Parthenium hysterophorous (P-H) as surfactant.

• Antibacterial activity of Graphene/Parthenium hysterophorous (G/P-H) was found to be controlled by graphene content in the G/P-H nanocomposite.

• Biocompatible graphene has a potential to be used in biomedical applications.

Abstract

There is a great interest to use carbon-based material like graphene and graphene oxide in biomedical applications due to its flexibility to be functionalized with bio-active molecules. Herein, graphene and graphene-based nanocomposites were biosynthesized by liquid-phase exfoliation of graphite using aqueous extract of Parthenium hysterophorous (P-H) as a surfactant. A set of five thin film samples of graphene was prepared from graphene suspension by vacuum filtration method. Samples were characterized by UV-vis spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, SEM, and XRD, which revealed successful synthesis of graphene. Graphene/P-H(G/P-H) nanocomposites comprising varied ratios of graphene and P-H were prepared and their antibacterial activity was investigated by agar well diffusion method. The experimental results indicated that G/P-H nanocomposite have higher antibacterial activity than graphene alone, and bioactivity of G/P-H nanocomposite was found to be controlled by the fraction of graphene in the composite.

Keywords:
Graphene; Parthenium hysterophorous; nanocomposite; biosynthesis; bioactivity; liquid-phase exfoliation

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT