Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using a mountain plant extract

Abstract

The present study investigated the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) using Artemisia Sieberi Besser leaf extract. To evaluate parameters affecting the synthesis including pH, volume of extract, concentration of silver nitrate solution, temperature and time, Ultraviolet-Visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy was used. Ag-NPs were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) techniques. The SEM revealed spherical morphology of the particles with the size around 41-88 nm. The XRD pattern of Ag-NPs confirmed that these nanoparticles were crystalline and had cubic structure with an average size of 20 nm. TEM analysis of synthesized nanoparticles showed spherical and cubic particles with an average size of 20 nm. The results showed that silver nanoparticles could be produced by an eco-friendly biological method with no need to any harmful chemicals using Artemisia Sieberi Besser (a mountain plant) extract.