Hollow selenium nanoparticles from potato extract and investigation of its biological properties and developmental toxicity in zebrafish embryos

A facile synthesis of hollow selenium nanoparticles (hSeNPs) was prepared using potato starch as a reducing and capping agent. The morphological and structural characters of the hSeNPs were characterised by ultraviolet‐visible spectroscopy (UV), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDX) and zeta potential analyser. The optical characteristics of hSeNPs were confirmed by UV. The presence of various functional groups in the hSeNPs suspension was confirmed by FTIR. The SEM results suggested that the synthesised hSeNPs were uniformly distributed and circular in shape with a hollow. The average size of the hSeNPs was found to be around 115 nm. The EDX analysis also confirmed the presence of hSeNPs in the sample. The zebrafish embryos were treated with hSeNPs of various concentrations ranging from 10 to 50 µg/ml. Abnormalities such as improper heartbeat, embryo sac oedema, ocular oedema and head oedema were noted at higher concentrations (30–50 µg/ml). A concentration‐dependent antioxidant activity of hSeNPs was observed. The hSeNPs showed good antibacterial activity against gram‐positive Bacillus subtilis and gram‐negative Escherichia coli. The results of this study indicate that potato extract reduces the toxicity of hSeNPs and lower concentrations of hSeNPs could be used for various biomedical applications in near future.Inspec keywords: X‐ray chemical analysis, nanofabrication, scanning electron microscopy, antibacterial activity, toxicology, nanoparticles, ultraviolet spectra, microorganisms, biomedical materials, nanomedicine, electrokinetic effects, suspensions, X‐ray diffraction, visible spectra, selenium, Fourier transform infrared spectra, elemental semiconductors, semiconductor growth, particle sizeOther keywords: hollow selenium nanoparticles, zebrafish embryos, energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy, potato extract, biological properties, developmental toxicity, hSeNP suspension, potato starch, capping agent, reducing agent, morphological characters, structural characters, ultraviolet‐visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, XRD, scanning electron microscopy, SEM, EDX, zeta potential analyser, optical characteristics, functional groups, heartbeat, embryo sac oedema, ocular oedema, head oedema, concentration‐dependent antioxidant activity, antibacterial activity, gram‐positive Bacillus subtilis, gram‐negative Escherichia coli, biomedical applications, Se