C94012

To determine the morphological features of the Glu-FeNPs through a scanning electron microscope (SEM), the dry sample of Glu-FeNPs was subjected to FE-SEM (JSM-5910-JEOL-JAPAN) at CRL, University of Peshawar. Similarly, for the elemental composition, the oven-dried (50 °C) Glu-FeNPs’ powdered form was utilized for energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analysis using the Oxford Inca 200 SEM instrument equipped with a Thermo EDX attachment (CRL, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, Pakistan). The X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern of Glu-FeNPs was recorded by nickel monochromatic filtering with Cu-Kα radiation (λ = 1.5406 Å), using a JEOL JDX 3532 X-ray diffractometer (CRL, University of Peshawar). For determining functional groups associated with glutamic acid in Glu-FeNPs, infrared spectroscopy was carried out within the range from 4000 to 400 cm⁻¹ at 4 cm⁻¹ resolutions (PerkinElmer C94012, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA).

The entrapped AgC was monitored by scanning within the range of 250 to 700 nm using a UV-visible spectrophotometer (ThermoFisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA), keeping AgNPs and cinnamaldehyde as suitable controls. To determine the chemical functional groups on AgC, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy (Perkin Elmer C94012, Akron, OH, USA) was performed, and the spectra were recorded within the range of 400 to 4000 cm⁻¹, at a resolution of 4 cm⁻¹. The structural investigations of AgC were carried out with a powder X-ray diffractometer (PXRD; Bruker D8 Advance, San Jose, CA, USA) operated at CuKα radiation, 40 keV, and 40 mA using radiation with a scanning step size of 0.02° (ƛ = 1.54060 Å). The average size of AgC was estimated by using Debye–Scherrer’s equation, L= (kλ)/(βcosθ), where k is the Scherrer constant, λ indicates X-ray wavelength, β is the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the measured reflection, and θ is the angle of diffraction. Further, the morphological investigations of AgC were carried out by scanning electron microscopy (SEM; Jeol 6390LV, Tokyo, Japan) at different magnifications, while transmission electron microscopy (TEM; JEM 2100, Jeol, Tokyo, Japan) was employed to analyse the morphology as well as the size of AgC.