Abstract

CeO2 nanoparticles (NPs) were green synthesized using Gloriosa superba L. leaf extract. The synthesized nanoparticles retained the cubic structure, which was confirmed by X-ray diffraction studies. The oxidation states of the elements (C (1s), O (1s) and Ce (3d)) were confirmed by XPS studies. TEM images showed that the NPs possessed spherical shape and particle size of 5 nm. The Ce-O stretching bands were observed at 451 cm(-1) and 457 cm(-1) from the FT-IR and Raman spectra respectively. The band gap of the CeO2 NPs was estimated as 3.78 eV from the UV-visible spectrum. From the photoluminescence measurements, the broad emission composed of eight different bands were found. The antibacterial studies performed against a set of bacterial strains showed that Gram positive (G+) bacteria were relatively more susceptible to the NPs than Gram negative (G-) bacteria. The toxicological behavior of CeO2 NPs was found due to the synthesized NPs with uneven ridges and oxygen defects in CeO2 NPs. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.