<i>Cocculus hirsutus</i> Leaf Assisted Green Synthesis of Ag-Au Bimetallic Nanoparticles and their Antioxidant Properties

Abstract

Bimetallic nanoparticles (BMNPs) of silver and gold are synthesized by eco- friendly green chemical procedure using leaf extract of Cocculus hirsutus. Under the experimental condition most individual silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are spherical whereas silver-gold bimetallic nanoparticles (Ag-Au BMNPs) found cloudy and lost their individual shape. Ag-Au BMNPs formed by the co-reduction of Au(III) and Ag(I) ions in aqueous leaves extract solution where the extract act as both reducing and capping agent. NPs were characterized with the help of UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. UV-Vis spectroscopy exhibit surface plasmon absorption maxima at 435 and 540 nm for AgNPs and AuNPs respectively whereas surface plasmon resonance (SPR) maxima for Au-Ag bimetallic appeared in between the peaks corresponding to pure silver and gold at the same reaction conditions. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed that crystalline nanoparticles (NPs) are face centered cubic structure. The synthesized bimetallic nanocomposites show stronger scavenging ability, around 67% and 75% on hydroxyl radical and superoxide radicals at the concentration of 400 µg/ml respectively, compared to the mono metallic AgNPs and AuNPs, indicating stronger antioxidant properties of Ag-Au BMNPs.