Abstract
Nowadays, antimicrobial resistance is one of the essential concerns caused by the extensive use of antibiotics. Efforts to find new materials with antimicrobial effects have been continued more serious than before. Nanoparticles with minimal dimensions and extraordinary properties have the potential to overcome antimicrobial resistance, so using previous antimicrobial substances at the nanometer dimensions to investigate physicochemical and antimicrobial effects could help overcome these universal concerns. In this study, nanoparticles were synthesized by hydrothermal assisted microwave technique. Scanning electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, and atomic force microscopy were conducted to investigate the physicochemical properties. Also, to analyze the chemical composition of nanocomposites, energy dispersive spectroscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy analyses were carried out. Then their minimum inhibitory concentration was measured on seven bacterial strains. The majority of nanoparticles were in the range of 40 to 100 nanometers which is a well-optimized size for our purpose. Antimicrobial analysis showed the effect of synthesized nanocomposites on every seven microbial strains, including three gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus, Micrococcus luteus, Bacillus subtilis, and four gram-negative strains Serratia marcescens, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae. Synthesized nanocomposite revealed an excellent antimicrobial effect on all bacterial strains. Investigating the cellular toxicity of synthesized nanocomposite is suggested in the subsequent studies.
Keywords: Microbial Resistance, Nanocomposite, Bismuth Hydroxide/Chitosan,, Antibacterial