Gelatin@CeCuO3: Biogenic fabrication using Aegle marmelos leaf extract and its antibacterial and antioxidant study

The development of Biopolymer-coated bimetallic nanocomposites has been increasing day by day owing to their excellent biological properties. Gelatin as a biopolymer, is well known for its excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability. Despite significant advancements in green synthesis of metal oxide nanoparticles, the fabrication of gelatin-coated bimetallic nanocomposites using plant extract remains relatively underexplored. Consequently, in this study, a Gelatin-coated CeCuO 3 nanocomposite was synthesized via a green route using an aqueous extract of Aegle marmelos leaves as a reducing and capping agent. The CeCuO 3 nanoparticles and Gelatin-coated CeCuO 3 nanocomposite were characterized by FT-IR, UV-Visible spectroscopy, P-XRD, SEM and TEM. To assess the biological potency, disk diffusion assay, MIC analysis, and Time Kill analysis were performed against Gram-positive ( B. subtilis , S. aureus ) and Gram-negative ( P. aeruginosa , E. coli ) bacteria, while antioxidant potential was analyzed using the DPPH free radical scavenging assay. The size of nanoparticles was found in the range of 5–10 nm with spherical shape. Coating of gelatin over CeCuO 3 was confirmed by XRD analysis. MIC assay shows that both CeCuO 3 and Gelatin-coated CeCuO 3 are effective against bacterial cells, showing inhibition as low as 65 µg/mL. Antioxidant analysis showed that Gelatin-coated CeCuO 3 nanocomposite showed 90% scavenging activity compared to 85% for the uncoated CeCuO 3 nanoparticles. Overall, the study highlights Gelatin-coated CeCuO 3 as a promising nanocomposite with significant potential for antibacterial and antioxidant activities.