Synthesis and Characterization of Florfenicol-silver Nanocomposite and its Antibacterial Activity against some Gram Positive and Gram-negative Bacteria

In this paper, easy, rapid and cheap synthetic method was described for florfenicol-silver nanocomposite by sonochemical method. Florfenicol-silver nanocomposite was characterized based on three classes namely index, identification and morphology class. Index characterization was carried out by zeta sizing, BET surface area and zeta potential. Identification characterization was performed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectrometry. Morphology characterization was done utilizing transmission electron microscope (TEM), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM). Characterization results showed zeta sizing of florfenicol was 30.44nm, while florfenicol-silver nanocomposite was 33.5 nm with zeta potential -14.1 and -18, respectively. BET surface area was found to be 13.3, 73.2 and 103.69 m2/g for florfenicol, silver nanoparticles and florfenicol-silver nanocomposite respectively. XRD and Raman charts confirmed the formation of florfenicol-silver nanocomposite without any contamination. TEM, SEM and AFM spectral data illustrated spherical to sub spherical shape of silver nanoparticles on cubic to sheet shape of florfenicol with size less than 50 nm. Antimicrobial activity was screened where the average zone of inhibitions caused by the prepared nanocomposite were 28.3 mm, 24 mm, 27.3 mm and 24 mm compared to 17.7 mm, 16 mm, 18.7 mm and 13.3 mm of the native drug and 13 mm, 10 mm, 14.3 mm and 15 mm of the used positive reference standards against E. coli, Salmonella typhymurium, Staphylococcus aureus and Staph.aureus MRSA respectively.