Investigation of pseudo boehmite nanoparticles as an antibacterial agent

Pseudo boehmite nanoparticles were synthesized by using bovine serum albumin as the structure-directing agent. The morphology and crystal phase of the pseudo boehmite nanoparticles were determined by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffractograms and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The antibacterial behaviors of pseudo boehmite nanoparticles were investigated using Escherichia coli (gram-negative) and Staphylococcus aureus (gram-positive) as model organisms. The results indicated that the synthesized pseudo boehmite nanoparticles showed high antibacterial activity when compared to plain aluminum oxide, which was assessed by measuring the growth inhibition and testing the zone of inhibition. The plausible mechanism of antibacterial behavior was attributed to the generation of reactive oxygen species by pseudo boehmite nanoparticles.