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Updated: Jan 25, 2026

Author Spotlight: Exploring the Antibacterial Effects of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles in Overcoming Antibiotic Resistance
Published on: September 27, 2024
Nanoparticle Size-Dependent Antibacterial Activities in Natural Minerals
Souravi Bardhan1, Kunal Pal2, Shubham Roy1
1Department of Physics, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032, India.
Abstract:
The size-dependent antibacterial activities of three minerals namely; alkali feldspar, calcite and stibnite are reported as examined individually against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus by evaluating minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) with colony counting method, along with cell survivability assay (MTT). Each of these minerals were grinded into fine-size fractions-S1 (bulk), S₂ (ball milled) and S3 (nanosized) and spectroscopically characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy. Antibacterial activity was found to be highest in the nanosized (S3) minerals. Interaction between bacteria and nanosized mineral samples produce intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), which might cause higher bacterial mortality. The penetration due to nano-dimension is another significant observation as evidenced by bacterial FESEM micrographs. The current findings thus provide a pathway for future research on antibacterial products retrievable from widely available geological materials. The size dependant antibacterial activity of naturally formed minerals is a new insight to reduce bacterial contamination in living systems.
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