Unexplored vegetal green synthesis of silver nanoparticles: A preliminary study with <i>Corchorus olitorus</i> Linn and <i>Ipomea batatas</i> (L.) Lam

Abstract

Antibacterial properties of silver ion are known from ancient times. The plant extract mediated synthesis of nanoparticles is gaining popularity due to green chemistry for the generation of nanosized materials. Corchorus olitorus Linn and Ipomea batatas (L.) Lam are world crops having leaves of high nutritional value. In the present work, Ag and AgCl nanoparticles were synthesized by incubating leaf aqueous extracts with silver nitrate salt, making them to react in the dark. Plasmon resonance bands, studied by ultraviolet spectroscopy, have been obtained. X-ray diffraction (XRD) revealed the average size of pure crystallites composed of Ag and AgCl. Optimization studies for the synthesis process highlight positive impact of pH, reaction time and reactants quantities.

Key words: Silver, nanoparticles, Corchorus olitorus, Ipomea batatas, X-ray diffraction.