A green chemistry approach for the synthesis and characterization of bioactive gold nanoparticles using Azolla microphylla methanol extract

Abstract

This article reports the environmentally benign synthesis of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) using methanol extract of Azolla microphylla as the stabilizing and reducing agent. The GNPs were characterized by UV-vis spectrophotometry and FTIR, and the morphological characteristics were analyzed by XRD, FESEM-EDX and HRTEM. The GNPs could be formed in very short time, even in less than 30 min. The nanoparticles measured by UV-spectrophotometer demonstrated a peak at 540 nm corresponding to surface plasmon resonance spectra, and the peaks showed by FTIR suggested the presence of organic biomolecules on the surface of the GNPs. XRD results confirmed the crystalline nature of the GNPs, and FESEM-EDX and HRTEM analyses had been performed in the size ranges of 17--40 nm and 1.25--17.5 nm respectively. The synthesized GNPs showed excellent antioxidant activity. This study shows the feasibility of using plant sources for the biosynthesis of GNPs.

Keywords

Azolla microphylla / gold nanoparticle (GNP) / antioxidant activity / surface plasmon resonance / green chemistry

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Center for Nanotechnology, Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata and DST Unit on Nanoscience, IIT, Madras for HRTEM measurements. We are also thanks to Central Instrumentation Facility, Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (IICB), Kolkata.

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2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg