Purpose: To investigate the efficiency of silver nanoparticles synthesized by wet chemical method, and evaluate their antibacterial and anti-cancer activities.

Methods: Wet chemical method was used to synthesize silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) from silver nitrate, trisodium citrate dehydrate (C 6 H 5 O 7 Na 3. 2H 2 O) and sodium borohydride (NaBH 4) as reducing agent. The AgNPs and the reaction process were characterized by UV–visible spectrometry, zetasizer, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The antibacterial and cytotoxic effects of the synthesized nanoparticles were investigated by agar diffusion method and MTT assay respectively.

Results: The silver nanoparticles formed were spherical in shape with mean size of 10.3 nm. The results showed good antibacterial properties, killing both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, and its aqueous suspension displayed cytotoxic activity against colon adenocarcinoma (HCT-116) cell line.

Conclusion: The findings indicate that silver nanoparticles synthesized by wet chemical method demonstrate good cytotoxic activity in colon adenocarcinoma (HCT-116) cell lines and strong antibacterial activity against various strains of bacteria.