Evaluation of Electrochemical and Antimicrobial Efficacy of Green Synthesized Silver Functionalized Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanocomposites

The emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains and delayed results of established diagnostic techniques at the point of care is a substantial barrier to effective antibiotic management of infection. Due to the delays in sample collection, bacterial culture, processing, and antibiotic susceptibility testing, antibiotics have been used indiscriminately, facilitating the growth of infections resistant to certain antibiotics. The advent of nanotechnology at the interface of material chemistry has facilitated us with the tools to synthesize novel anti-microbial agents. Herein, we report the biogenesis of silver and its graphene oxide nanocomposite and the evaluation of their electrochemical and antibacterial properties. The reduced graphene oxide silver nanomaterial was successfully synthesized using the Lactobacillus biomass in an environmentally friendly, simple, and scalable manner, acting as a reducing and nanocomposite stabilizing agent. The nanocomposites were characterized using TEM, EDX, XRD, UV–Vis, Raman, FT-IR, and FESEM which efficaciously confirm the synthesis of the nanocomposites. The synthesized material was further characterized by CV, DPV, and EIS-based electrochemical techniques which suggest their feasible electrochemical properties. The antimicrobial susceptibility assay showed that Ag-rGO nanocomposite possesses excellent antimicrobial activity as compared to AgNPs. The green synthesis reported in this work led to the production of water-dispersible, cost-effective, high-purity reduced graphene oxide silver nanocomposites having good electrochemical and antimicrobial properties.