Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have received considerable attention recently because of their chemical properties and potential applications in the medical field.Monodispersed AuNPs in this paper are successfully synthesized by using some stabilized ligands including 3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid (DNBA) and sodium acetate (SA) dispersible in aqueous media, where NaBH4 was used as a reducing agent to reduce KAuCl4 from Au (III) to Au (0).The synthesized AuNPs are characterized by using UV–Vis spectroscopy to evaluate their surface plasmon resonance (SPR) absorption in a wavelength range of 500–650 nm. The size and morphology of AuNPs were determined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS), where the results displayed that AuNPs with a strong SPR peak around 530 nm and 536 nm with an average size of 10 ± 1.2 nm and 14.0 ± 0.9 nm at the initial time for both DNBA-AuNP and SA-AuNP respectively. The synthesized AuNPs illustrate perfect chemical stability for more than 24 weeks in an aqueous solution. Therefore, the size of DNBA-AuNP was smaller and most stable than SA-AuNP, which may be due to 2 nitro groups that have resonance with the benzene ring leading to an increase in the stability of AuNPs.The stability of AuNPs in this work was monitored at a range of pH 2-12. Where high stability was showed at pH 6.6 ± 0.5, while the aggregation appears at more than pH 10 and less than pH.3.5.Herein, in this paper AuNPs have shown remarkable results against multi-drug resistance Pseudomonas aeruginosa. AuNP functionalized by SA ligand is shown to have a greater biological effect and be more effective than DNBA-AuNP. Due to the high stability of AuNP prepared in this work, it can be further tested to be an improved choice for more biomedical applications in the future.

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the potential application of Balanites aegyptiaca bark powder (BABP) for removing a basic textile dye, methylene blue (MB), from aqueous solutions. Design/methodology/approach The biosorbent (BABP) was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and point of zero charge (pHPZC). Batch mode was selected to study the biosorption of MB onto BABP surface at different experimental conditions (shaking speed, contact time, initial solution pH, ionic strength, solution temperature, biosorbent dosage and initial dye concentration). Besides, the reusability of BABP for MB biosorption was also examined. Findings The biosorption results revealed that approximately 96% of MB was removed successfully at the optimized operational conditions. Pseudo-second-order and Langmuir models, respectively, better described the adsorption kinetics and isotherms. The monolayer biosorption capacity (qmax) for MB was about 97.09 mg/g. According to thermodynamics findings, the MB biosorption onto BABP is an exothermic and spontaneous process. The results demonstrate that BABP can be considered as potential eco-friendly, readily available and low-cost biosorbent for hazardous textile dyes removal from water bodies and also provides a promising method for minimization of agricultural solid wastes (e.g. plant barks). Originality/value The utilization of Balanites aegyptiaca bark powder (BABP), solid waste material, as low-cost and eco-friendly biosorbent for the removal of hazardous basic textile dye (methylene blue) from the aquatic environment.