Antifungal and antibacterial investigation of quinary Zr Al Fe Co Ni layered double hydroxide and its Al Fe Co Ni quaternary and Fe Co Ni tertiary roots

Abstract

Layered double hydroxides (LDH) are promising 2D nanomaterials being investigated for several engineering and biomedical applications. In this work, quinary Zr Al Fe Co Ni LDH and its Al Fe Co Ni LDH quaternary and Fe Co Ni LDH tertiary roots were prepared and characterized. All samples showed an aggregated, layered morphology with zero surface charge and approximately 300 nm of hydrodynamic size. BET surface area of Al Fe Co Ni LDH showed a remarkable value of 143.25 m² g^-1 as opposed to 26.2 m² g^-1 and 45.4 m² g^-1 for Fe Co Ni LDH and Zr Al Fe Co Ni LDH, respectively. The antimicrobial activity of the prepared samples was assessed against the many pathogenic bacteria; <i>Bacillus</i> (<i>B.</i>) <i>subtilis</i>, <i>Escherichia</i> (<i>E.</i>) <i>coli</i>, <i>Haemophilus</i> (<i>H.</i>) <i>influenza</i>, <i>Listeria</i> (<i>L.</i>) <i>monocytogenes</i>, <i>Staphylococcus</i> (<i>S.</i>) <i>aureus</i>, and <i>Streptococcus</i> (<i>St.</i>) <i>pneumonia</i>, and six fungal species. Furthermore, anti-biofilm activity, growth curve assay, and effect of UV illumination were examined against various pathogenic microbes. Zr Al Fe Co Ni displayed remarkable antibacterial activity, as indicated by the lowest values of the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of 4-166.7 μg mL^-1. Results for fungal strains varied in terms of their susceptibilities for the different samples tested. Zn Al Fe Co Ni was able to inhibit the biofilm formation of <i>S. aureus</i> (96.09%), <i>E. coli</i> (98.32%), and <i>Candida</i> (<i>C.</i>) <i>albicans</i> (95.93%). This study shown that certain LDH categories, particularly Zr Al Fe Co Ni, may be promising antibacterial agents against variety of pathogenic microorganisms that cause serious infections.