Larvicidal activity of CuO and ZnO nanoparticles against Aedes aegypti and Anopheles stephensi mosquito vectors-a greener approach by Phaseolus vulgaris L. aqueous extract as bio-reductant

In order to eradicate mosquito-borne diseases like malaria, chikungunya, dengue, and Zika virus which are mostly found in temperate zones, synthetic pesticides are widely used as a form of fumigation. This has resulted in a rise in mosquito-borne disease transmission dynamics and a substantial rise in atmospheric pollution. In light of this, the current work used an aqueous extract of Phaseolus vulgaris to formulate bioencapsulated CuO and ZnO NPs to combat mosquito vectors. The synthesized CuO and ZnO NPs were characterized using UV-visible, XRD, FT-IR, FE-SEM & EDX, AFM, and DLS techniques. According to analytical characterization, the CuO and ZnO NPs had monoclinic and hexagonal crystallites with average sizes of 13.7 nm and 185 nm, respectively. FE-SEM analysis confirms the spherical and flower-like morphology of CuO and ZnO NPs and their respective elemental composition was identified by EDX studies. The average particle size of CuO and ZnO NPs was determined to be 22.6 nm and 662 nm. CuO and ZnO NPs possessed zeta potential values of -23.2 mV and -29.7 mV respectively. The larvae of the malaria vector Anopheles stephensi and the dengue vector Aedes aegypti were subjected to compare the larvicidal bioassays in a range of concentrations of P. vulgaris aqueous extract with methanol extracts, and CuO NPs with ZnO NPs (6.25, 12.5, 25, 50, 100 mu g/mL). The results showed the larvicidal activity of the aqueous extract is superior to the methanol extract and ZnO NPs are superior to the CuO NPs. This study further revealed that Aedes aegypti vulnerable than Anopheles stephensi to a given concentration of crude aqueous, methanol extracts of P. vulgaris and to CuO and ZnO NPs. The overall findings of this research demonstrated the feasibility of using these biosynthesized nanoparticles as highly effective, eco-friendly natural mosquito control pesticides.