Green chemistry of glucose-capped ferromagnetic hcp-nickel nanoparticles and their reduced toxicity

Abstract

Well-designed multifunctional d-(+) Glucose capped nickel nanoparticles (G-Ni NPs) with reduced toxicity was synthesized via green chemistry using d-(+) Glucose and ammonia in water. Here, glucose serves as a reducing and capping agent, resulting in highly stable and well-dispersed G-Ni NPs in the solution. The temperature and field dependent magnetization (M-H) showed a typical magnetic behavior for the G-Ni NPs. In zero field cooled (ZFC) curve, the peak was observed at ∼15 K, attributed to the blocking temperature (T B). At room temperature, the saturation magnetization (M s), remanent magnetization (Mr), and coercivity (H c) were found to be 35.57 emu/g, 11.77 emu/g, and 161 Oe, respectively. Interestingly, a dosage of 50 μg ml-1 G-Ni NPs were found to be well-tolerated by the cells with more than 50% cell viability. Hence, these smartly designed the G-Ni NPs can be envisioned as a future potential biomaterial for various applications. © 2013 The Royal Society of Chemistry.