Insights into the optical and anti-bacterial properties of biogenic PbSe quantum rods

Biological synthesis of metal selenide nanoparticles and their applications

“…The existence of biomolecules on the biogenic nanoparticles' surface eliminates the additional step of functionalization for certain biomedical applications. Hence, metal selenide nanoparticles find application in specific fields, especially bioimaging and biolabeling, therapeutic agents (Mal et al, 2016), antimicrobials (Jacob et al, 2016) and catalytic applications for removing pollutants from the environment (Diko et al, 2020). (Shao et al, 2018).…”

“…(Xu et al, 2019). Jacob et al (2016) reported a filter paper bioassay for the anti-bacterial activity of the biogenic PbSe quantum rods dispensed on filter paper discs, based on the formation of distinct zones of inhibition by Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial pathogens. It was observed that the biogenic PbSe nanorods had an anti-bacterial activity comparable to that of standard antibiotics against pathogens like B. cereus and E. coli (Figure 11.16).…”

Biologically synthesized ZnS quantum dots as fluorescent probes for lead (II) sensing

“…These interpretations directed attention towards the incidence of photons with energy <4 eV, for which there exists an active electron-hole pair generation and recombination event within the QD. [20] This state may also be directly associated with molecular reconfiguration and the existence of surface trap states. The variation in molar extinction coefficient with photon energy corroborates these absorbance coefficient values and further signifies the existence of large numbers of unsaturated defects or bonds and localized states [32] in green-synthesized ZnS QDs.…”

“…[31] Similar observations have been reported for biologically synthesized PbSe quantum rods made using Aspergillus terreus. [20] The absorbance data were further used to infer the band gap energy of the biogenic ZnS QDs using a Tauc plot (Figure 1b). Band gap energy was estimated to be 3.75 eV, higher than that reported for bulk ZnS and comparable with that of chemically synthesized ZnS [33] and QDs synthesized using endophytic fungi.…”

“…[17] In this regard, notable advancements in the biosynthesis of QDs using fungi, bacteria, and plant-based sources have to be taken into account. [18] Majorly, the photocatalytic [19] , antimicrobial [20] , cellular-imaging [21] and drug-delivery [22] potentials of biogenic QDs have been reported, but the suitability of these alternatives as efficient sensing platforms has been much less researched. Taking into account the unparalleled optical and structural properties of biogenic QDs compared with that of their chemically synthesized counterparts, it is prudent to employ these green materials for analyte sensing.…”