Size dependent optical and antibacterial properties of Ag3PO4 synthesized by facile precipitation and colloidal approach in aqueous solution

Present study reports the synthesis of Ag3PO4 nano/mircoparticles by facile precipitation and colloidal synthesis approach in aqueous solution. Importantly, the presented approach does not require complicated instruments, difficult processes, and harsh conditions such as high temperature and high pressure. The obtained samples were characterized using SEM with EDS, XRD, TEM with HR-TEM and SAED, and FTIR. Their optical properties were studied using UV-vis diffusive reflectance spectra. Size dependent antibacterial activity towards Gram-positive (S. aureus) and Gram-negative (E. coli, K. pneumoniae and P. aeruginosa) bacteria. Experimental results showed that the antibacterial performances of nanoparticles obtained by mixing 0.01 M of each reactant (colloidal synthesis approach) were found to be much higher than that of other formulation under identical conditions.