The aim of the present study was to prepare environmentally friendly silver-based materials using Cornus mas L. fruits extract.
For this purpose, silver nanoparticles (Cornus mas-AgNPs) were green synthesized using this plant extract. The bioreduction of
silver ions was analyzed by UV–VIS and ATR-FTIR spectroscopic studies. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis
revealed the formation of spherical phyto-nanosilver particles with size ranging between 12 and 40 nm. Different amounts of
double walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs) were mixed with these herbal silver nanoparticles to obtain stable hybrids. The
Cornus mas-AgNPs-(1 mg) DWCNTs hybrid presented the highest physical stability with zeta potential value of -31.1 mV. The
DPPH radical-scavenging assay revealed high antioxidant activity (AA%) values (more than 93%) of all samples. The silverbased
materials showed significant antibacterial activity, the most potent biocides being Cornus-AgNPs which provides
inhibition zones of 23 mm, 20.3 mm and 15.3 mm against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), Enterococcus faecalis (ATCC
29212) and Escherichia coli (ATCC 8738), respectively. The results obtained in this study open the perspective of applying these
eco-friendly materials based on phytonanosilver, in the biomedical field (as drug delivery systems carrying bioactive cornelian
principles) or in bionanotechnology (as antimicrobial and antioxidant coating).