Synthesis of α-Al2O3 Nanoparticles From Pepsi Cans Wastes and Its Fungicidal Effect on Some Mycotoxins Producing Fungal Isolates

Abstract Green synthesis of nanomaterials is the most recent trend in nanotechology because it is synthesized the highly valuable compounds (nanomaterials) from wastes to reduce the highly negative impact of these wastes in environment. The aim of this study was to isolate and purify the most common mycotoxin, aflatoxin producing fungi from Maize and soybean grains which considered as the great economical importance as both animal and human feed. In addition to green synthesized of a-Al2O3 from cans and to detect its antifungal effect on the isolate’s growth at different concentrations. Thereafter, determining the fungicidal concentration of the tested nanoparticles on the isolated fungal strains. The structural, morphological, optical and antifungal activity of the prepared a-Al2O3. are characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), High resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM), Attenuated total Reflection-Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) and Ultraviolet-Visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometer. Results shows that, the most common fungal strains presented were belonging to Aspergillus flavus, Fusarium oxysporum and Alternaria sp.. Formation of Al2O3 is confirmed using XRD, FESEM and ATR –FTIR. The average particle size of a-Al2O3 is 4-10 nm. Optical band gap of a-Al2O3 are calculated using Tauc relation. Through investigating the fungicide concentration, Data showed that the maximum antifungal activity of aluminum nanoparticles a-Al2O3 was detected for A. flavus, Fusarium sp.and Alternaria sp. in concentration 1, 6 and 50 mg/100ml respectively.