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ABSTRACT
Nanoparticles (NPs) is an ultrafine particle of matter between 1 and 100 nanometres (nm) in diameter. An attractive possibility of green nanotechnology is to use microorganisms in the synthesis of NPs. Recently, the biosynthesis especially from fungi has emerged as a novel method. This study synthesized cost effective, ecofriendly and non-toxic AgNPs, AuNPs, and Ag-Au composite NPs using the mycelia of a novel strain of Aspergillus aculeatus and the application of NPs to remediate waste petroleum products. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and Internal Transcribed Spacer ( ITS/16S) rRNA techniques were used to characterize Aspergillus aculeatus. The synthesized Ag, Au, Ag-Au composite NPs were monitored by UV/V spectrophotometer. The Ag, Au, Ag-Au composite NPs were characterized by FTIR and XRD. The intensity of the synthesized nanoparticles peak revealed hydroxyl (OH) and carbonyl (C=O) group stretch. This stretch may be attributed to the capping of carboxylic acid moieties on the AgNPs, AuNPs and Ag –Au composite NPs. The XRD peaks were compared with the Joint Committee in Powdered Diffraction Standard (JCPDS) card number 00-004-0783, 00-00-0783, 00-004-0784 and 00-004-0783 for AgNPs, AuNPs and Ag-Au composite NPS respectively as face centered cubic (FCC) crystal lattice structures. The synthesized nanoparticles were evaluated for antimicrobial activity against staphylococcus sp., Klebsiella sp., Bacillus spand Escherichia coli. The synthesized AgNPs only showed of inhibition zone diameter against staphylococcus sp. The remediation property of the NPs formed was evident by the clearance of waste engine oil (WEO) on the surface of the agar medium. The synthetized nanoparticles exhibited potential for use in the remediation of petroleum products.
