Applied Surface Science 317 (2014) 914–922 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Applied Surface Science journal h om epa ge: www.elsevier.com/locate/apsusc Synthesis and characterization of amoxicillin derived silver nanoparticles: Its catalytic effect on degradation of some pharmaceutical antibiotics Y. Junejo a,b , A. Güner c,∗ , A. Baykal b a National Center of Excellence in Analytical Chemistry, University of Sindh Jamshoro, Jamshoro 76080, Pakistan b Department of Chemistry, Fatih University, Buyukcekmece, 34500 Istanbul, Turkey c Department of Biology, Fatih University, Buyukcekmece, 34500 Istanbul, Turkey a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 22 April 2014 Received in revised form 21 August 2014 Accepted 23 August 2014 Available online 1 September 2014 Keywords: Antibiotics Silver nanoparticles Reducing agent Antimicrobial activity Wastewater a b s t r a c t We synthesized novel amoxicillin derived silver nanoparticles (Amp-Ag (0) NPs) in aqueous solution by one-pot simple synthetic method by reducing silver nitrate by the help of amoxicillin antibiotic as a reducing/capping agent and NaOH as the catalyst for reaction enhancement. The formation of the Amp-Ag (0) NPs was monitored using UV–Vis absorption spectroscopy which confirmed the formation of Amp-Ag (0) NPs by exciting the typical surface plasmon absorption maxima at 404 nm. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed the spherical morphology and monodispersed Amp-Ag (0) NPs with particle size 6.87 ± 2.2 nm. The antibacterial activities of the antibiotics were evaluated against Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli, Salmonella enteritidis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Gram-positive bacteria Streptococcus pneumonia, Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus aureus by the disk diffusion method. Whereas standard antibiotics showed normal zone of inhibition, the reduced ones with Amp-Ag (0) NPs showed no inhibition zone. The antimicrobial results therefore reveal that newly synthesized Amp-Ag (0) NPs had an excellent catalytic activity as catalyst for the 100% reduction of antibiotics i.e. cefdinir, cefditoren, cefiximee, ceftriaxone sodium and doxycycline, which was carried out in just 2–5 min. They were recovered easily from reaction medium and reused with enhanced catalytic potential five times. Based upon these results it has been concluded that Amp-Ag (0) NPs are novel, rapid, and highly cost-effective for environmental safety against pollution by antibiotics in wastewater and extendable for control of other reducible contaminants as well. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction In the recent years, there has been an increasing interest about diffusion of pharmaceuticals into the environment and related risks in highly developed countries [1]. A large diversity of these pharma- ceutical compounds has been repeatedly found in river streams and sewage treatment plants effluents [2]. These compounds enter into aquatic environment after their ingestion and subsequent excre- tion without any modifications or in the form of non-metabolized parent compounds [3]. Along with diverse pharmaceutical com- pounds present in the environment, special emphasis has been given to antibiotics, which are the most often discussed pharma- ceuticals because of their potential role in the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria [4]. Antibiotics are widely used for ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 212 8863300x2099; fax: +90 212 8663402. E-mail addresses: aguner@fatih.edu.tr, aguner@outlook.com (A. Güner). human medicine and agriculture which can easily enters in the aquatic environment via wastewater and other sources, where they have been found at measurable concentrations (according to data supplied by the European Federation of Animal Health in 1999 there were a total of 13,216 ton of antibiotics used in the European Union) [5]. An antibiotic does not metabolize 100% by humans and ani- mals body [6]. Some of the active quantity is excreted after body metabolism and may find their way to municipal sewage treatment plants from the excretions [7]. Alaton and Dogruel [8] reported that the concentration of penicillin formulation in real antibiotics wastewater may be up to 400 mg/L. Antibiotics wastewater has high chemical oxygen demand (COD) and low biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and hence biological processes are unsuitable for the wastewater treat- ment. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have proved to be highly effective in the degradation of most of the pollutants in wastewaters [9]. Large amount of antibiotics in the environ- ment could affect terrestrial and aquatic organisms [10–12], alter http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2014.08.133 0169-4332/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.