One-step biological synthesis of cauliflower-like Ag/MgO nanocomposite with antibacterial, anticancer, and catalytic activity towards anthropogenic pollutants

The present research work explores an environmental benign, lucrative approach for the synthesis of cauliflower-like Ag/MgO nanocomposite using Musa paradisiaca bract extract (MPBE) with multifunctional efficiency towards antibacterial, anticancer, and catalytic degradation towards methylene blue (MB), methyl orange (MO), and O-nitrophenol (O-Nip). The UV–visible absorption spectra of the synthesized Ag/MgO nanocomposite exhibit absorption peak at 270 nm and 410 nm, respectively. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to probe the functional biomolecules responsible for the reduction of Ag/MgO nanocomposite. The X-ray diffraction spectroscopy and the surface morphological images revealed the successful formation of cauliflower-like Ag/MgO nanocomposite. The fabricated nanocomposite exhibited potent antibacterial and anticancer activity for human pathogenic organisms Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus with zone of inhibition 15 mm and 14 mm and showed IC 50 value of 190 μg/ml against A549 cells. Apoptosis assay (AO/EB staining) was carried out, and the obtained results showed that bright green fluorescence indicates early apoptosis, red to orange fluorescence indicates late apoptosis, and red fluorescence denotes necrosis. Also the synthesized Ag/MgO nanocomposite exhibits enhanced catalytic degradation of 91%, 95%, and 98% in 6 min, 9 min, and 10 min for MB, MO, and O-Nip. Hence, this study highlights the use of MPBE for effective fabrication of cauliflower-like Ag/MgO nanocomposite with multifaceted application that acts as a potential candidate to resolve the diverse problems.