Metal-Doped Barium Sulphate Nanoparticles Decorated with Gelatin as Antibacterial Agents

Nanoparticles are gaining a new impetus in the field of medicine because of their potential to overcome core problems of drug efficacy. Amongst inorganic nanoparticles, barium sulphate in nano form is achieving wide attention due to its valuable applications. Despite the several advantages of barium sulphate nanoparticles, there is a major difficulty in their preparation and stability in the medium, as they belong to poorly soluble particles group. Hence, bearing in mind the synthesis barriers associated with these nanoparticles, a modified methodology has been designed for the synthesis of nanoparticles by capping them with gelatin. In addition, to enhance their physico-chemical properties and antimicrobial efficacy, BaSO4 nanoparticles were doped with four different metals. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized through UV–Visible spectra, X-Ray Diffraction patterns, Dynamic Light Scattering, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy analysis. Their antimicrobial potential and cytotoxicity through mitogenic response was also evaluated. These doped nanoparticles have shown enhanced properties in their structure (size reduction from micro to nano, dispersibility in the medium, non-aggregation etc.) and antimicrobial efficiency than its bulk counterparts. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on antimicrobial potential of synthesized metal-doped barium sulphate nanoparticles stabilized with gelatin.