Green Nanotechnology from Plant Extracts: Synthesis and Characterization of Gold Nanoparticles

The advantage of using plants in nanoparticles synthesis is that they are easily available, safe to handle and possess a broad variability of metabolites such as antioxidants, nucleotides and vitamins. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Green and Zimbro tea and also Green coconut water as a reducing and stabilizer agent in gold nanoparticle synthesis. The gold nanoparticles were characterized by UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Dynamic light scattering (DLS) and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis. Their physical stability was determined using a UV-Vis spectrophotometer over several days during storage at room temperature. We observed that green chemical process to obtain gold nanoparticles did not require any external chemicals reagent for stabilization of nanoparticulate. Absorption measurements indicated that the plasmon resonance wavelength appears around 530 nm. X-ray diffracto-grams of gold nanoparticles evidenced the presence of Au-rich (fcc) phases. TEM analysis showed a homogeneous dispersion of nanoparticles and some agglomerates. Differences in size and shape of the nanoparticles were observed. Zeta potential of AuNPs synthetized in presence of Green tea was -33 mV indicating stability of the synthesized nanoparticles.