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Iron nanoparticles; green synthesis; Syzygium cumini; dark fermentation; biohydrogen production; Enterobacter cloacae.

In recent years the application of metal nanoparticles is gaining attention in various fields. The present study focuses on the additive effect of `green’ synthesized iron nanoparticles (FeNPs) on dark fermentative hydrogen (H₂) production by a mesophilic soil bacterium Enterobacter cloacae. The FeNPs were synthesized by a rapid green method from FeSO₄ using aqueous leaf extract of Syzygium cumini. The synthesized FeNPs showed a characteristic surface plasmon resonance peak at 267 nm. The transmission electron microscopy images confirm that the formation of FeNPs was mainly porous and irregular in shape, with an average particle size of 20–25 nm. The presence of iron (Fe) in the synthesized FeNPs was confirmed by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The comparative effect of FeSO₄ and FeNPs on batch fermentative H₂ production from glucose was investigated. The fermentation experiments reveal that the percentage and yield of H₂ in FeNPs supplementation were increased significantly than the control (no supplementation) and FeSO₄ containing media. The maximum H₂ yield of 1.9 mol mol⁻¹ glucose utilized was observed in 100 mg l⁻¹ FeNPs supplementation, with two-fold increase in glucose conversion efficiency. Thus, the result suggests that FeNPs supplementation in place of FeSO₄ could improve the bioactivity of H₂ producing microbes for enhanced H₂ yield and glucose consumption.

Dhrubajyoti Nath¹ Ajay Kumar Manhar¹ Kuldeep Gupta¹ Devabrata Saikia¹ Shymal Kumar Das² Manabendra Mandal¹

1. Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur University, Napaam, Tezpur 784 028, Assam, India
2. Department of Physics, Tezpur University, Napaam, Tezpur 784 028, Assam, India

Published

October 2015

Manuscript received

9 June 2015

Accepted

24 June 2015