Nickel Oxide Nanoparticles: Synthesis and Evaluation for Antimicrobial Efficacy

Abstract

In this work, nickel oxide nanoparticles are synthesized using plant extracts of Camellia sinensis, Matricaria chamomilla L., Artemisia herba-alba Asso. and Punica granatum L. peel., with an evaluation of their antimicrobial activity. The possible mechanism of the formation of NiO nanoparticles mediated by plant extracts has been elucidated. Synthesized green nickel oxide nanoparticles (NiO NPs) were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), UV–visible spectrophotometer analysis (UV–Vis), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Zeta potential (ZP). The crystal size of the as-prepared NiO nanoparticles estimated via the Debye Scherrer — formula was about (19.68–23.77) nm. Nickel oxide-mediated nanoparticles possess strong antibacterial activity (gram-positive and gram-negative) and fungi.