Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Chemistry, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Pakistan
  • 2 Drug and Herbal Research Centre, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 3 International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan
  • 4 Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Johannes Guttenberg University, Duesbergweg, Mainz, Germany
  • 5 Centre for Advanced Studies in Physics (CASP), GC University, Lahore, Pakistan
Int J Nanomedicine, 2015;10:2079-88.
PMID: 25844038 DOI: 10.2147/IJN.S75874

Abstract

Polysaccharides are attracting the vigil eye of researchers in order to design the green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) of diverse size, shape, and application. We report an environmentally friendly method to synthesize Ag NPs where no physical reaction conditions were employed. Hydroxypropylcellulose (HPC) was used as a template nanoreactor, stabilizer, and capping agent to obtain Ag NPs. Different concentrations of AgNO3 solutions (50 mmol, 75 mmol, and 100 mmol) were mixed with a concentrated aqueous solution of HPC and the progress of the reaction was monitored by noting color changes of the reaction mixture at different reaction times for up to 24 hours. Characteristic ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV/Vis) absorption bands of Ag NPs were observed in the range of 388-452 nm. The morphology of the Ag NPs was studied by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and atomic force microscopy. The TEM images confirmed that the size of the Ag NPs was in the range of 25-55 nm. Powder X-ray diffraction studies showed that the crystal phase of the Ag NPs was face-centered cubic. The as-prepared Ag NPs were found to be stable, and no changes in size and morphology were observed after storage in HPC thin films over 1 year, as indicated by UV/Vis spectra. So, the present work furnishes a green and economical strategy for the synthesis and storage of stable Ag NPs. As-synthesized Ag NPs showed significant antimicrobial activity against different bacterial (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus epidermidis, S. aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and fungal strains (Actinomycetes and Aspergillus niger).

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.