MnO nanoparticles bearing 5-amino-2-mercapto benzimidazole moiety as antibacterial and antifungal agents.

The antibacterial and antifungal effects of non-functionalized and surface-functionalized MnO nanoparticles were comparatively analyzed to reason out the potential changes in antimicrobial activities due to functionalization with 5-amino-2-mercapto benzimidazole (AMB) molecule. The surface functionalization of MnO nanoparticles with AMB molecule was confirmed by the XRD result, which shows the shift in 2 values with noticeable peaks. The surface morphology and functionalization of MnO nanoparticles were additionally confirmed by HR-SEM and EDAX studies. Antimicrobial activities were investigated by an agar-well-diffusion method using the bacteria and and fungi . The functionalized MnO nanoparticles possess remarkable antibacterial and antifungal effect than the non-functionalized MnO nanoparticles and AMB molecule. The coating of low energy surface layer over metal oxide nanoparticles such as MnO offers an active surface toward both transfer of electron and the adsorption or desorption of water, inorganic ions, and other molecules, which leads to the increased antimicrobial activity of f-MnO nanoparticles.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.