Available online at www.scholarsresearchlibrary.com Scholars Research Library Der Pharmacia Lettre, 2014, 6 (3):129-136 (http://scholarsresearchlibrary.com/archive.html) ISSN 0975-5071 USA CODEN: DPLEB4 129 Scholar Research Library Synergetic effect of Ag-Cu bimetallic nanoparticles on antimicrobial activity G. M. Nazeruddin*, R. N. Prasad, Y. I. Shaikh and A. A. Shaikh Dept. of Chemistry (PG and Research Centre), Poona College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Camp. Pune _____________________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT In recent years the application of nanoparticles in various disciplines has expanded considerably. Nanoparticles possess unique physical properties and high reactivity viz high surface to volume ratio. An attempt has been made to determine the antimicrobial activity of copper and silver nanoparticles; also the antimicrobial activity of Ag-Cu bimetallic nanoparticles is determined. It is found that the antimicrobial activityincreases when the bimetallic nanoparticles are used. Keywords: Bimetallic nanoparticles, Reducing agents, Capping agents, Antimicrobial activity. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ INTRODUCTION Miniaturization is a concept nurtured by nature since the process of evolution and with time, the control of biological processes at small length scales has become immaculate. The origin of the field of nano science and nanotechnology has primarily been a motivation to mimic the programmed synthesis and manipulation of materials at similar length scale, an art perfected by nature [1]. Richard Feynaman was the visionary who first drew attention towards this possibility in his speech titled “There’s plenty of room at the bottom” [2]. Since then, several significant achievements have been made towards the process of miniaturization,even though control at complexity levels manifested by biological systems is still a dream. Richard Feynman in 1959, has initiated a new branch of science which is presently known as ‘Nanoscience Nanotechnology’, where everything depends on our ability to manipulate and design materials atom by atom and molecule by molecule at the nanoscale. These nanoscale materials possess novel size and shape dependent properties useful for diverse applications in various fields of science and engineering. Accordingly, recent technological development makes it possible to generate structures or devices less than 100 nanometers in size with noteworthy functional advantages over conventional devices leading to the threshold of a revolution having the potential to change the entire scenario of present technology [3-6]. Indeed, promises are so high that it can even cope up with the millennium goal of achieving affordable amenities to all human beings from equally distributed technological developments touching. Nanotechnology deals with the art of designing new materials at the nano domain wherein the size, shape and structure of the material dictate the properties of the same as much as the composition. The concepts and ideas derived from chemistry, physics and engineering are married to design a novel material with desired properties. Recently the interesting properties and appealing structures of biomaterials have inspired the synthesis of modern nano-materials with precise control over their morphology and dimension [7-8]. Structural arrangement of atoms and the length scales of the material are the two parameters, which when tuned properly at the nanometer scale, could lead to variation in the properties of the material, compared to its bulk [9].