Abstract
An innovative and environmentally friendly method for the synthesis of size-controlled silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) is presented. Pectin-stabilized AgNPs were synthesized in a plasma-reaction system in which pulse-modulated radio-frequency atmospheric-pressure glow discharge (pm-rf-APGD) was operated in contact with a flowing liquid electrode. The use of pm-rf-APGD allows for better control of the size of AgNPs and their stability and monodispersity. AgNPs synthesized under defined operating conditions exhibited average sizes of 41.62 ± 12.08 nm and 10.38 ± 4.56 nm, as determined by dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), respectively. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) confirmed that the nanoparticles were composed of metallic Ag. Furthermore, the ξ-potential of the AgNPs was shown to be −43.11 ± 0.96 mV, which will facilitate their application in biological systems. Between 70% and 90% of the cancerous cells of the human melanoma Hs 294T cell line underwent necrosis following treatment with the synthesized AgNPs. Furthermore, optical emission spectrometry (OES) identified reactive species, such as NO, NH, N2, O, and H, as pm-rf-APGD produced compounds that may be involved in the reduction of the Ag(I) ions.
Highlights
Since ancient times, the many special properties of metallic silver have been well known and widely utilized because of its antibacterial [1], conductive [2], and optical [3] applications
Nanostructures of different metals and sizes are able to absorb and reflect light of unique wavelengths, resulting in a localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) absorption band centered around distinct wavelengths known as λmax [19]
To evaluate the effects of the operating parameters on the size of the synthesized attention has been given to silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), 43 independent runs of AgNPs synthesis were performed with varying experimental conditions, and the position of λmax of the LSPR absorption band for each sample was recorded (Table 1)
Summary
The many special properties of metallic silver have been well known and widely utilized because of its antibacterial [1], conductive [2], and optical [3] applications. Special attention has been given to silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), as their high surface-area-to-volume ratio [4] increases their number of possible applications. One promising utilization of AgNPs, and nanoparticles in general, is their application in medicine, for example, serving as drug delivery vectors [8,9]. AgNPs have gained interest in the field of nanomedicine because of their unique properties and their therapeutic potential in the treatment of at least some human cancers, with a particular focus on breast cancer [12,13]. Smaller AgNPs at a lower concentration induced apoptosis and necrosis in a human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cell line, while larger AgNPs at higher concentrations induced autophagy in this cell line [15]
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