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Bioprocess Biosyst Eng

DOI 10.1007/s00449-014-1251-0

MINI REVIEW

Biosynthesis of gold nanoparticles using plant extracts


Masumeh Noruzi

Received: 16 June 2014 / Accepted: 26 June 2014


Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014

Abstract Because of the widespread use of metallic synthesis of metallic nanoparticles [1]. These methods are
nanoparticles in biology, pharmaceuticals, and medicine, based on the reduction of metallic ion solutions with tra-
biosynthesis methods are being considered to prepare these ditional reducing and capping agents such as sodium
nanoparticles. Among biosynthesis methods mentioned in borohydride, sodium citrate, and sodium dodecyl sulfate.
the literature, the use of plant extracts has gained great Most of these materials are toxic and their use is a threat to
importance due to the fact that most of the plants are human health. In addition, since a small amount of these
generally inexpensive, available, and nontoxic. Moreover, reagents remains in the reaction mixture free and non-
plant extracts are rich in different types of reducing and reactive, the entrance of these materials into the environ-
capping agents. Therefore, these methods have a high ment leads to environmental pollution [2]. It is difficult to
potential for scale-up and can produce nanoparticles in use these nanoparticles in biology and medicine [3].
different morphologies. In this paper, different green Moreover, the shape and morphology of the metallic
methods used to prepare metallic nanoparticles and the nanoparticles affect their properties [4], especially in bio-
types of characterization methods for their identification medical applications. It is well known that metallic nano-
have been comprehensively explained. Since gold nano- particles produced by chemical methods are mainly
particles are considered more biocompatible than other spherical in shape [5], which limits their applications. For
metallic nanoparticles, research studies performed on green these reasons, in recent years there has been a growing
synthesis of gold nanoparticles using plant extracts and need to develop alternatives to chemical approaches [3].
different applications of these nanoparticles have been Green methods which use nontoxic materials have gained
reviewed and discussed. more importance, because they are benign and environ-
mentally friendly. Also, some of them can produce nano-
Keywords Green synthesis  Metallic nanoparticles  particles with various shapes other than spherical.
Characterizations  Gold nanoparticles One of the green methods mentioned in the literature is
the plant extract-based method. In recent years, the use of
plant extracts has assumed great significance because
Introduction plants are generally inexpensive, available and nontoxic.
Among metallic nanoparticles, gold nanoparticles (GNPs)
Various applications of metallic nanoparticles such as gold, have attracted much more attention because of their bio-
silver, iron, platinum, palladium, etc. have led to the compatibility and high potential for use in biology and
increase in the need to produce these nanoparticles. medicine [6, 7], strong scattering and absorption [7], tun-
Chemical methods are the most popular approach for the able surface plasmon resonance (SPR) [8, 9], easy surface
functionalization [10], facile synthesis methods [10], and
low toxicity [10, 11]. In this paper, firstly, the different
M. Noruzi (&)
methods of green synthesis of metallic nanoparticles, the
Nanotechnology Department, Agricultural Biotechnology
Research Institute of Iran (ABRII), Karaj, Iran advantages and disadvantages of these methods, and the
e-mail: mnoruzi@abrii.ac.ir; masumehnoruzi@gmail.com characterization methods of synthesized metallic

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Bioprocess Biosyst Eng

nanoparticles are comprehensively explained. Then, reports The advantages of plant extract-based methods
on the green synthesis of GNPs using plant extracts are over microorganism-based methods
presented. Finally, the most important applications of
GNPs are reviewed. In the synthesis methods based on plant extracts, the rate of the
reaction is relatively high, and the reaction takes several
minutes to several hours to complete, depending on the plant
The green methods in the synthesis of metallic type and the plant amount. But in microorganism-based
nanoparticles methods, a long time (two or several days) is needed for
microorganism culture. This indicates that this method is a
Green chemical methods time-consuming approach [1, 3, 31]. Furthermore, some
microorganisms like Fuzarium spp. [32, 33], Pseudomonas
These methods are based on the use of pure chemical spp. [22], and Escherichia coli [34] that are used to produce
reagents which are green and environmentally friendly. In nanoparticles are extremely toxic and a threat to human health,
most of these methods, carbohydrates such as glucose [12, while most of the plants are safe and benign. Many of the
13], sucrose [13], starch [12, 14], chitosan [15, 16], and plants, especially evergreen plants, are almost always avail-
calcium alginate [17] are used as reducing agents, capping able in nature. Plant extract-mediated synthesis of metallic
agents, or both. Also, biodegradable and nontoxic polymers nanoparticles mainly occurs at room temperature, while in the
such as carboxy methyl cellulose (CMC) and polyethylene synthesis of metallic nanoparticles using microorganisms it is
glycol (PEG) [18] have been successfully employed for the required to heat the reaction mixture or culture medium. For
green synthesis of metallic nanoparticles. The nanoparti- these reasons, plant extracts are more suitable for large-scale
cles produced by these methods are generally spherical. production than microorganisms [31, 35].

Microorganism-based methods Honey-mediated green synthesis

In these methods, microorganisms like bacteria [1922], Other than the biological sources mentioned above, honey
fungi [2325], and algae [2628] are used to produce is used for the green synthesis of metallic nanoparticles.
nanoparticles. In this process, these microorganisms grow Honey is a natural compound rich in carbohydrates,
in culture media. Some reducing and capping materials are enzymes, and antioxidants [36] which can act as reducing
released into the medium or biomass. Metallic nanoparti- and capping agents in metallic nanoparticle synthesis. The
cles are produced by adding metallic ions to this medium in use of honey has an advantage over the use of plant extracts
controlled conditions. Among the mentioned microorgan- because it eliminates the plant drying step [36]. The
isms, prokaryotic bacteria have been most extensively aqueous honey solution was used in green synthesis of
researched for the synthesis of metallic nanoparticles platinum [36], gold [37], and silver nanoparticles [38].
because of their relative ease of manipulation [1]. Also, the antibacterial properties of honey-mediated gold
and silver nanoparticles have been investigated by Sree-
Plant extract-based methods lakshmi et al. [39].

In these methods, different parts of the plants such as the Intracellular synthesis of metallic nanoparticles
leaf, root, shoot, petal, fruit and peel are used as fresh or by plants
dried material to prepare the extract. The extraction method
usually involves soaking the plant materials in a green In this method, the plant grows in a culture medium rich in
solvent with or without stirring using a magnet on the metal ions. Metal ions are then reduced to metallic nano-
heater stirrer. The obtained extract contains the reducing particles into agar medium and transferred into the plant.
and capping agents needed to reduce metallic ions. The Metal ions can also be transferred from the medium into
benefit of using dried plant is that the plant can be stored at the plant and converted to metallic nanoparticles. Gardea
room temperature for a long time until needed, but the et al. [40, 41] investigated the formation and growth of Au
fresh plant should be stored at -20 C to prevent deteri- and Ag nanoparticles inside live alfalfa plant. Although this
oration. Also, the effects of seasonal variations which lead method is considered to be a green synthesis method, it is
to variations in plant constituents are eliminated using not usually applied to nanoparticle production, because the
dried materials [29, 30]. Different variations such as tem- synthesis of nanoparticles occurs in the biomass, and their
perature, concentration of the extract, concentration of the separation remains a big challenge. However, it is used for
metallic ions, and pH can influence the size and mor- environmental remediation of heavy metals from contam-
phology of the nanoparticles. inated soils.

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Characterization of synthesized metallic nanoparticles quantitative determination of available minerals in the


synthesized nanoparticles. In electron microscopy, the
Ultravioletvisible (UVvis) spectroscopy collision of electrons with the nanoparticles produces
X-rays. Each element has a unique atomic structure making
Noble metallic nanoparticles such as gold and silver pos- a unique set of peaks on its X-ray spectrum which, in turn,
sess strong absorption in the vis region with the maximum leads to the characterization of the elements [45].
in the range of 500600 and 400450 nm, respectively, due Other than electron microscopy, there are few reports on
to the SPR phenomenon which occurs in metallic nano- the use of atomic force microscopy (AFM) to study the
particles. This phenomenon is attributed to the collective shape of metallic nanoparticles. Song et al. [46] and
oscillation of free conduction electrons induced by an Ghodake et al. [47] used both AFM and TEM techniques to
interacting electromagnetic field in metallic nanoparticles determine the morphology of biosynthesized GNPs.
[2]. Therefore, UVvis spectroscopy is usually the first
technique used in characterization of metallic nanoparticles X-ray diffraction (XRD)
[42, 43]. After the change of the extract color to red or
violet in the case of GNPs, and brown in the case of silver This technique is used to obtain structural information
nanoparticles, the observation of an absorption band in the about crystalline metallic nanoparticles and confirms the
mentioned wavelength regions confirms the production of formation of zero-valent nanoparticles. Since every crys-
these nanoparticles. The SPR band can give useful infor- talline material has a special pattern of diffractions, the
mation about the size and shape of the synthesized nano- XRD technique can identify crystalline materials by com-
particles. The increase in particle size causes the increase paring the obtained pattern with the reference library. If the
in maximum wavelength (red shift), and the reduction in nanoparticles are produced in an amorphous structure, no
particle size leads to the decrease in maximum wavelength diffraction peak is observed and this technique cannot help
(blue shift). The variations in the SPR wavelength with the to identify the sample. The broadening of the peaks in
variations in particle size were reported in literature [30, XRD confirms the formation of particles in nano size [48,
42, 43]. The asymmetrical and broad SPR bands are 49]. The smaller the nanoparticles, the broader the XRD
indicative of the formation of anisotropic nanoparticles. peaks. XRD spectrum can also be used to calculate crys-
Moreover, the existence of a peak in the near infrared tallite sizes by the use of the DebyeScherrer equation
(NIR) region can be attributed to longitudinal SPR which [50].
indicates anisotropy in the shape of the nanoparticles as
previously reported [2, 42, 44]. Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission
spectroscopy (ICP/AES)
Electron microscopy techniques
ICP/AES technique is used to determine the reaction yield
These techniques including transmission electron micros- and the conversion value of metal ions to metallic nano-
copy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) are particles. For this purpose, the produced nanoparticles are
used to show the morphology and the shape of the syn- separated from the supernatant by centrifuging, and the
thesized nanoparticles. The TEM technique has greater concentration of residual metal ions is determined by ICP/
magnification and resolution than SEM. Thus, TEM is the AES. Then, this amount is subtracted from the total value
preferred method when we want to investigate the mor- of metal ions to obtain the yield of the reaction. A few
phology and the average size of the very small nanoparti- studies have measured the recovery of the synthesis reac-
cles. Another advantage of TEM over SEM is that TEM tion. Our group, however, reported GNPs synthesis using
can be used to distinguish crystalline structures from the extract of cypress leaves and determined the recovery
amorphous structures using the selected area electron dif- of the reaction which was found to be 95.4 % at room
fraction (SAED) technique [29, 44] which can confirm the temperature [42]. Moreover, the reaction yield of larger
results obtained from XRD analysis. Also, microscopy than 90 % was obtained in the formation of platinum
techniques are applied to measure the average size of nanoparticles at 95 C using Diopyros kaki (D. kaki) leaf
particles. For this purpose, different images are taken from extract [51] and in the formation of silver nanoparticles by
the sample. The sizes of 100300 particles are analyzed. the use of Magnolia kobus (M. kobus) and D. kaki leaf
Then, the average particle size is calculated using the sta- extracts [52]. Potentiometry technique can also measure the
tistical softwares. recovery of the reaction. Mohan Kumar used the potenti-
In addition to the shape and size investigations, some ometry technique to display the complete conversion of
electron microscopes use energy-dispersive X-ray spec- gold ions to GNPs in the green synthesis of GNPs using
troscopy (EDX) technique for elemental analysis and Terminalia chebula (T. chebula) extract [53].

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X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) of nanoparticles and their distributions using the dynamic
light scattering method. Brownian movements of the par-
XPS is a surface chemical analysis technique which can be ticles within the sample produce time-dependent fluctua-
used in elemental analysis of the sample and determination tions in scattering intensities based on Doppler effect [62].
of element speciation. In this technique, the sample is DLS instrument measures these fluctuations and relates
irradiated with X-ray beams while the kinetic energy and them to the hydrodynamic diameter. This technique is
number of electrons that escape from the surface of the faster and less expensive than electron microscopy tech-
material are simultaneously measured. Since each element niques in size analysis and has been used in some studies
produces a characteristic set of XPS peaks at characteristic [2, 42, 46, 63].
binding energy values, this technique can directly identify
each element that exists on the surface of the material Zeta potential
being analyzed [54]. This technique is especially useful in
the identification of amorphous metallic nanoparticles Zeta potential is the potential difference between the dis-
which cannot be characterized by XRD. This technique persion medium and the stationary layer of fluid attached to
was used in the green synthesis of zero-valent iron nano- the dispersed particle which indicates information about
particles (ZVINs) using green tea extract to confirm the the surface charge of particles [64]. This is a very impor-
formation of ZVINs which were not crystalline [55]. XPS tant factor in the evaluation of the stability of colloidal
can also be used in the identification of metallic nanopar- systems and can be used to modify the formulation of
ticles which do not have strong plasmon resonance colloidal systems such as drugs and paints. The greater the
absorption such as palladium and platinum. Song et al. [51] zeta potential, the greater the stability of nanoparticles
employed the XPS technique to identify platinum nano- because the repulsion between adjacent particles prevents
particles biosynthesized by D. kaki extract. aggregation of nanoparticles. In addition, the measurement
of this potential can confirm the results obtained from FT-
Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy IR analysis. For example, FT-IR analysis showed the
involvement of carboxylate anions in the stability of GNPs
FT-IR spectroscopy is used to identify the functional groups produced by tansy fruit extract [50]. This finding was in
that are bound to the surface of nanoparticles and that lead good agreement with that of zeta potential analysis where
to the stability of nanoparticles. The identification of these negative surface charge was achieved for GNPs. This
biomolecules is important in developing new approaches in potential strongly depends on the pH of the solution. Sat-
nanoparticle synthesis. Also, the surface chemistry of hishkumar et al. [65] investigated the effect of pH on the
nanoparticles affects their properties and applications. The stability of silver nanoparticles produced using Cinnamon
comparison of FT-IR spectrum of the dried plant and that of zeylanicum extract by measuring the zeta potential. They
the synthesized nanoparticles can give information about found that the absolute value of zeta potential increased
reducing agents responsible for metallic ion reduction [30, with the increase in pH which resulted in higher stability in
50, 5658]. The most important reducing and capping basic mediums.
agents in plant extracts are proteins, polysaccharides,
flavonoids, and terpenoids. The significant absorption bands
which can indicate the role of these compounds are mainly Green synthesis of GNPs and their bimetallics using
observed in the region 1,0001,800 cm-1 [30]. However, plant extracts
stretching vibrations of NH and OH groups appear
between 3,200 and 3,500 cm-1. For example, in FT-IR The first study on the biosynthesis of metallic nanoparticles
spectrum of GNPs synthesized using Mangifera indica (M. was performed by Shankar et al. [66] who used the leaf
indica) [59], the absorption bands of C=C, C=O, CN, CO, extract of geranium as the reducing and capping agent for
and OH were observed at 1,624, 1,737, 1,444, 1,369, and GNPs synthesis. These nanoparticles were produced in
3,273 cm-1, respectively. various morphologies such as spherical, triangular, deca-
There are few reports on the use of nuclear magnetic hedral, and icosahedral. This reaction was completed
resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to further confirm the within 48 h. They found that the terpenoids in the extract
functionalization of metallic nanoparticles [60, 61]. may be responsible for the reduction of gold ions and the
formation of GNPs. In 2004, the same research group
Dynamic light scattering (DLS) reported the use of neem leaf extract to synthesize GNPs
[3]. In comparison with the previous work, the reaction
The DLS technique, also called photon correlation spec- time intensively decreased in a way that the reaction was
troscopy, measures the hydrodynamic average particle size completed in only 2.5 h (the research studies performed in

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Table 1 The tabular data on GNPs synthesis using plant extracts
Plant type Gold or bimetallic Particle size Shape Reaction time Stability References

Geranium Gold 1640 nm Decahedral, icosahedral, triangular, rod 48 h 6 months [66]


shapes
Neem Gold Triangular, spherical, few hexagons 2h 4 weeks [3]
Neem Bimetallic (AuAg) 50100 nm Spherical 30 min [3]
Bioprocess Biosyst Eng

D. kaki Bimetallic (AuAg) 50500 nm Cubic 1.5 h [68]


Lemongrass Gold 0.051.8 lm Triangular, spherical, hexagonal, cubic 6h [61]
Mushroom Gold 20150 nm Triangular, prism, hexagonal, spherical 2.5 h 1 month [69]
Mushroom Bimetallic (AuAg) Spherical [69]
A. vera Gold 50350 nm Triangular, spherical, hexagonal 25 h [70]
C. camphora Gold 80, 23.4, 21.5 nm Spherical, triangular 60 min [30]
M. indica Gold 17 nm, 20 nm Spherical 2 min 5 months [59]
Coriander Gold 6.7557.91 nm Spherical, triangular, truncated triangular, 12 h [49]
decahedral
C. Amboinicus. L. Gold 4.655.1 nm Spherical, triangular, truncated triangular, 1h 1 month [9]
hexagonal, decahedral
C. sinensis Gold 40 nm Triangular, spherical 24 h [43]
P. amarus Gold 10110 nm Hexagonal, triangular, spherical 20 min 3 months [44]
M. kobus Gold 250300 nm Triangular, pentagonal, hexagonal 3 min [46]
D. kaki Gold Bellow 300 nm Triangular, pentagonal, hexagonal, 5 min [46]
spherical
C. album Gold 1030 nm Quasi-spherical 2h Many months [71]
Sugar-beet pulp Gold 10, 25,15 nm Nanowires, spherical 5h [57]
R. hybrida Gold 10 nm Spherical, triangular, hexagonal 5 min [2]
Pear Gold 200-500 nm Triangles, hexagons [47]
Tansy Gold 1040 nm Mostly triangular and spherical along 5h [50]
with few hexagonal
Cypress gold 5, 40, 65, 87, 94 nm Quasi-spherical 10 min [42]
C. asiatica Gold 10.9 nm Spherical [48]
N. arbortristis Gold 19.8 5.0 nm Spherical 30 min 6 months [60]
Z. officinale Gold 515 nm Spherical 20 min 1 month [73]
M. longifolia Gold 73 M Triangular, spherical, hexagonal Slight color [58]
nanoplates change after 2 h
A. occidentale Bimetallic (AuAg) 6.5 nm coreshells 8.5 nm Spherical 30 min [29]
alloys
S. mukorossi Gold 9 nm, 17,19 Quasi-spherical in low concentrations and 8h 5 months [74]
various morphologies in high
concentrations

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References
this field have been compared in terms of reaction rate,
shape, size, etc. in Table 1). The investigation of the syn-
[72]

[53]
[56]
[76]

[77]
[78]
[79]
thesized GNPs using FT-IR spectroscopy showed that the
flavanones and terpenoids which are abundant in neem
extract have probably been adsorbed on the surface of
nanoparticles and led to their stability for 4 weeks. The
2 months
More than

6 months

2 months
morphology of the GNPs was predominantly planar (tri-
Stability

angular and few hexagonal) along with spherical shapes.


This study was an important one because, for the first time,


biosynthesis of bimetallic GNPs was studied through
simultaneous reduction of aqueous gold and silver ions
with the extract of neem leaves [3]. Bimetallic nanoparti-
Reaction time

10 min3 h

cles show unique optical, catalytic, and electronic proper-


150 min
10 min

20 min

ties which are different from those of corresponding


12 h
20 s
2h

metallic nanoparticles [67]. In this study, 190 mL of a 1:1


solution of AgNO3 and HAuCl4 was mixed with 10 mL of
neem broth. The reduction of these ions was followed as a
function of time using UVvis spectroscopy. It was
observed that the intensity of the SPR band of GNPs
increased during the reaction time, whereas no distinct SPR
peak was seen for silver nanoparticles. They demonstrated
that silver nanoparticles did not form a homogenous layer
Nanospheres, nanoplates

Spherical, anisotropic

around gold nanoparticles, which led to the disappearance


Spherical, triangular

of SPR of silver at around 400 nm. They explained that the


higher rate of reduction of gold ions in comparison to silver
ions led to the formation of a coreshell structure. Similar
Spherical

Spherical
Spherical

Spherical

results were obtained by Song et al. [68] and Philip et al.


Shape

[69] who synthesized AuAg bimetallics by adding per-


simmon leaf and mushroom extract to a 1:1 solution of
gold and silver ions. Song et al. measured the atomic silver
107.7 ? 32.6 nm nanoplates

content of bimetallic nanostructure using both EDX and


XPS techniques. The EDX technique showed that the
46.7 ? 9.7 nm spheres

atomic silver content of bimetallic compound was 36 %,


while silver content from XPS analysis was 71 %. We
know that XPS is a surface-sensitive analysis that measures
12, 16, 21 nm
Particle size

from the top 110 nm of material. Thus, the authors of this


1417 nm

1050 nm
810 nm

127 nm

paper concluded that the silver is near the surface, which


7.4 nm

indicates that gold and silver are produced as core and


shell, respectively. SEM showed that some bimetallics
were synthesized in cubic structure. However, no TEM
Bimetallic (AuPd)

image was taken to indicate the coreshell structure with


Gold or bimetallic

high resolution.
Control over the shape of nanoparticles was achieved
when Shankar et al. [61] used lemongrass extract to syn-
Gold

Gold

Gold

Gold
Gold
Gold

thesize the GNPs. 45 % of population of total GNPs was


triangular in shape in the range of 0.051.8 micron. Other
shapes were spherical, hexagonal, and cubic. In this study,
D. pleiantha rhizome

the crude extract was separated into two fractions: water-


Table 1 continued

soluble and chloroform-soluble parts. The chloroform-sol-


G. Combogia
C. Platycladi
C. Platycladi
M. uniflorum

uble fraction had no reaction with gold ions. The water-


T. chebula
Plant type

P. florida

soluble part was divided into 12 fractions by column


chromatography and these fractions were subjected to
reaction with gold ion solution. Some of these fractions did

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Bioprocess Biosyst Eng

not react with gold ions. The results of TEM analysis quantities. FT-IR analysis showed the role of water-soluble
revealed that the most polar fraction produces only trian- compounds such as flavonoids, terpenoids, and thiamine as
gular shapes similar to the triangles produced by the total stabilizing agents in synthesis of GNPs. GNPs were stable
extract, while the most non-polar fraction produces only for more than 5 months.
cubic shapes. FT-IR spectroscopy and NMR analysis of the The anisotropy in shape was observed in GNPs syn-
most polar reaction showed that aldehydes and ketones thesized by coriander leaf extract [49]. Nanoparticles were
were responsible for the stabilization and formation of in spherical, triangular, truncated triangular, and decahe-
GNPs. The importance of the production of triangles is that dral morphologies in the size range of 6.7557.91 nm. The
they can be used in thermal treatments of cancers because synthesis reaction was completed in 12 h. In 2011, the
of absorption in the NIR region. In a similar study, authors of this paper used Coleus amboinicus Lour (C.
Chandran et al. [70] used the Aloe vera (A. vera) leaf amboinicus L.) extract to produce GNPs with these various
extract to modulate the shape and the size of the synthe- shapes in the size range of 4.655.1 nm [9]. FT-IR analysis
sized GNPs. Most of the GNPs were triangular in the size revealed the involvement of the aromatic amines, amide
range of 50350 nm, which depended on the extract (II) groups, and secondary alcohols in the reduction of gold
quantity. The addition of low amounts of the extract to ions.
HAuCl4 solution resulted in the formation of nanogold The reduction of gold ions by Camellia sinensis (C.
triangles in larger sizes. Also, when the extract quantity sinensis) extract resulted in the production of GNPs with an
was increased, the ratio of nanotriangles to spherical average particle size of 40 nm [43]. The authors of this
nanoparticles decreased. Similar to GNPs produced by research study stated that the phenolic acids present in the
lemongrass extract, carbonyl functional groups were found extract were likely to be effective in GNPs production as
to be responsible for the reduction of gold ions and pro- reducing and capping agents. However, no FT-IR analysis
duction of nanoparticles. The modulation of the shape and was performed to confirm this statement. These nanopar-
size was also reported in GNPs synthesis using mushroom ticles showed high fluorescence properties.
extract [69]. In this study, in low extract quantities, Most of the studies have focused on the use of plant
anisotropic nanoparticles with a large percentage of trian- extracts without any purification. However, Kasthuri et al.
gles and prisms and a low amount of hexagonal and [44] reported the use of purified Phyllanthus amarus (P.
spherical nanoparticles were produced. With the increase in amarus) extract in GNPs synthesis. In their research,
extract quantity, the amount of nanotriangles was phyllanthin, which is the most important ingredient of the
decreased, the percentage of hexagonal and spherical plant, was separated from the extract by liquidliquid
nanoparticles was increased, and GNPs were formed in extraction and chromatography. Then, the purified com-
smaller sizes. Finally, at the highest extract quantity, ponent was used to synthesize GNPs. In this study, cyclic
almost spherical nanoparticles were produced in a small voltammetry and thermogravimetry were used to confirm
average size (25 nm). The effect of temperature on GNPs the conversion of gold ions to zero-valent nanoparticles.
was investigated at the highest extract quantity. The results This method is more complicated than the traditional plant
revealed that GNPs were almost hexagonal at 313 K, while extract-based methods. However, it may produce purer
they were formed in dendrite/fractal shapes at 353 K. nanoparticles.
There are some reports on the use of dried plants without The aqueous extracts of M. kobus and D. kaki were
initial extraction. The elimination of the extraction step successfully employed for the green synthesis of GNPs
makes this method easier and more cost-effective than [46]. The reaction temperature and the extract concentra-
plant extracts-based methods. Also, especially in the case tion affected the size and the shape of the nanoparticles. At
of synthesis of GNPs where the rate of their formation is higher temperatures and extract concentrations, smaller and
higher than that of other metallic nanoparticles, the heating mainly spherical nanoparticles were produced, while a
is eliminated. After the end of the reaction, the residual variety of other morphologies in larger sizes were obtained
biomass is separated from the produced nanoparticles by a at lower temperatures and extract concentrations in the case
paper filter. Huang et al. [30] used sundried powder of of both M. kobus and D. kaki.
Cinnamomum camphora (C. camphora) leaves without The carbonyl functional groups in Chenopodium album
extraction for the production of nanoparticles. Philip (C. album) [71] leaf extract as reducing agents were
reported the synthesis of spherical GNPs at room temper- effective in the synthesis of quasi-spherical-shaped GNPs
ature by the use of both the extract and dried M. indica in the size range of 1030 nm. GNPs showed high negative
[59]. The results showed that smaller and more uniformly zeta potential value, whose absolute value increased with
sized GNPs were produced by dried M. indica leaves. The the increase in pH in the range of 26, and after that only
average size of GNPs was larger in lower extract quantities slight variations were observed. When gold salt concen-
probably due to lack of stabilizing biomolecules in lower tration increased, there was a growth in the average particle

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size of GNPs. A decrease in particle size was observed with perennial herb) fruit extract [50]. The crystallite size of
an increase in extract quantity. With an increase in reaction GNPs was calculated using DebyeScherrer equation and
temperature, an increment in the reaction rate was was found to be 11 nm. The effects of different variations
observed. The effect of reaction time (5 min4 h) was such as the extract quantity, gold ion concentration, reac-
investigated on synthesis of GNPs, and it was found that tion temperature, and reaction time on the average size of
the reaction was completed after 2 h. nanoparticles were investigated. With the increase in the
Castro et al. [57] reported the use of sugar beet pulp for extract quantity, an increase in SPR band intensity was
the synthesis of gold nanowires. Sugar beet pulp is a res- observed, which can be due to the rise in reaction rate.
idue obtained by heating sugar beet cossettes in water Also, TEM images showed a decrease in particle size when
during the extraction of the juice used for the crystalliza- the extract quantity increased. Similar results were
tion of sugar. The obtained results revealed that solution obtained in biosynthetic GNPs using M. indica extract [59],
pH and the concentration of gold salt determine the ratio of C. album leaf extract [71], and Macrotyloma uniflorum (M.
nanowire to nanoparticle in a way that alkaline medium uniflorum) extract [72]. With an increase in reaction time
leads to the formation of mainly nanowires, and acidic from 10 min to 5 h and in reaction temperature from 25 to
conditions lead to the formation of nanoparticles. Also, the 150 C, the SPR band became sharper, which was an
increase in gold ion concentration led to the formation of indication that more nanoparticles were produced. It was
gold nanowires. The comparison of FT-IR spectrum of the observed that the average particle sizes were larger at
produced gold nanowires with untreated sugar beet extract acidic pH than in basic conditions. The variations in
showed that the proteins and polysaccharides were maximum wavelength of SPR bands confirmed these
responsible for the reduction of gold ions and stability of variations in the particle sizes. The authors of this paper
nanowires. The use of this source has an advantage over the determined the zeta potential of produced GNPs which was
use of parts of plants (i.e., other biological resources) found to be -31 mV. This indicates the stability of
because it involves the reuse of industrial waste, which nanoparticles.
makes this method cost-effective and useful for large-scale Some research studies have applied the leaves of ever-
production. green plants to synthesize metallic nanoparticles. The
Since the leaves of the plants are more available than advantage of evergreen plants is that the fresh leaves of
other parts of the plants, most research studies have been these plants are easily available in all four seasons. Cypress
performed using leaf extracts. However, there have been leaf extract was successfully employed for green synthesis
some studies on the use of other parts of the plants such as of GNPs at room temperature by our group [42]. The size
the fruit, the root, and the petal. Our group explained GNPs of the nanoparticles was controlled by varying the con-
synthesis using Rosa hybrida (R. hybrida) petals extract as centration of the extract and the extract pH. With an
the reducing and capping agent [2]. The rate of the reaction increase in extract concentration, the average particle size
was high, and it was completed within 5 min. Thus, this increased due to secondary reduction phenomenon [52]
method has considerable potential to compete with chem- which was intensified at higher concentrations as previ-
ical synthesis methods. The average particle size of the ously reported in the synthesis of silver nanoparticles using
GNPs was measured by the DLS technique and was found M. kobus leaf extract [52]. In the pH range of 4.88, the
to be 10 nm. The TEM images showed polydisperse average particle size was constant. However, at pH values
nanoparticles with different morphologies, such as spheri- of 9 and 10, the average size increased, which was prob-
cal, triangular, and hexagonal. This polydispersity was ably due to chemical variations in the extract content and
confirmed by UVvis spectra where a longitudinal SPR the biomolecules available in the extract. This reaction was
band was observed at 750 nm. Also, pear fruit extract was completed in only 10 min with a high yield of 95 %.
applied to the production of crystalline gold nanoplates at The solvent used in the extract preparation is generally
room temperature [47]. Alkaline conditions led to the water. However, there are a few reports about the use of
production of flat morphologies such as triangles, hexa- ethanol as the extraction solvent. Kumar Das et al. [48]
gons, etc., whereas in acidic conditions productivity was used ethanol for the preparation of Centella asiatica (C.
low. Unlike most biosynthesis studies, UVvis spectros- asiatica) extract at room temperature to synthesize GNPs.
copy technique was not used for the identification of par- The nanoparticles were mainly spherical in shape with an
ticles. XPS spectroscopy showed the formation of pure average particle size of 10.9 nm in the highest concentra-
gold in zero oxidation state. The drawback of this study tion of the extract (10 %). The authors stated that phenolic
was that the biomolecules and the functional groups compounds are likely to be responsible for the reduction of
responsible for the capping and stabilizing of GNPs were gold ions and stabilization of GNPs. Moreover, in another
not identified. In another biosynthetic route, the GNPs study, biosynthesis of GNPs by the ethanolic extract of
production was investigated using tansy (known as a Nyctanthes arbortristis (N. arbortristis) flowers was

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reported [60]. In this study, when the reaction was per- may have a role in GNPs synthesis. However, the disad-
formed at 80 C, spherical GNPs were produced in average vantage of this study was the long extraction time (i.e.,
size 19.8 5.0 nm, while anisotropic GNPs (spherical, 15 days). Apart from the plant type, the novelty of this
triangular, pentagonal, and rod-shaped) were produced at paper was the use of produced GNPs as infrared radiation
room temperature. The produced spherical GNPs were blockers which can be applicable to glass coatings of
stable for a long time (6 months). Nevertheless, this buildings to lower the temperature. The ability of these
method is time-consuming because drying the flowers took nanoparticles in IR absorption originated from anisotropy
1 month and the extraction took as long as 72 h to com- in nanoparticles shape which led to longitudinal SPR in the
plete. It should be said that the authors of the above- NIR region.
mentioned two papers did not explain why they used eth- Sheny et al. [29] used both the aqueous extract and the
anol as the extraction solvent instead of water. However, dried leaf powder of Anacardium occidentale (A. occi-
the use of water is preferred because it is safe and dentale) to synthesize gold and bimetallic AuAg struc-
available. tures. The GNPs with a stability of 7 months obtained in
The stability of GNPs in physiologic conditions is a very this study are one of the most stable GNPs synthesized
important factor when GNPs are applied in biology. Zin- using biosynthetic methods. With an increase in extract
giber officinale (Z. officinale) extract was used for green quantity, an increase in particle size was observed with the
synthesis of GNPs and the stability of the produced SPR bands shifted to longer wavelengths. As the dried
nanoparticles was determined in physiologic pH [73]. The powder increased from 3 to 12 mg, the SPR band became
SPR band of GNPs prepared with Z. officinale extract did narrower and a blue shift was observed in the SPR band,
not change in physiologic pH, while a band broadening and which was indicative of a reduction in particle size. The
large red shift was observed in the SPR band of citrate- change of temperature from 300 to 373 K led to an increase
stabilized GNPs, which is a sign of the stability of bio- in wavelength, the production of larger particles, and an
synthetic GNPs and the instability of citrate-stabilized increase in reaction rate. Also, when the extract quantity
GNPs under physiologic conditions. The investigation of was varied from 0.1 to 0.6 ml at 373 K, a blue shift was
particle size changes over time in physiologic pH did not observed in the SPR wavelengths because of the decrease
show a significant variation during 30 days. Furthermore, in particle size. In this study, both the bimetallic coreshell
the particle size of the GNPs did not change in the tem- AuAg nanoparticles and bimetallic alloy nanoparticles
perature range of 2050 C in physiologic pH. The GNPs were produced by adjusting the molar ratio of gold and
showed good blood compatibility because the aggregation silver ions. For the solutions with gold to silver ratio of 1:2
of blood cells did not occur, no activation of platelets was and 1:1, coreshell nanoparticles were obtained with two
seen, and GNPs showed very low protein adsorption. SPR bands, while the molar ratios of 2:1, 3:1, 4:1, and 9:1
Because of this compatibility and the possibility of use of led to the production of alloy nanoparticles with one SPR
GNPs in physiologic conditions, the authors suggested that band as expected.
these nanoparticles be used in biomedical applications such The saponins and flavonoids available in Sapindus mu-
as drug delivery, gen delivery, and biosensors where there korossi Gaertn (S. mukorossi. G) were effective in GNPs
is a direct contact with blood. production with a stability of more than 5 months [74].
Anisotropic GNPs were produced using Maduca longi- TEM studies showed that the GNPs synthesized using 1
folia (M. longifolia) extract as the reducing and capping and 5 mM HAuCl4 were quasi-spherical in shape with
agent [58]. The extract was subjected to dialysis to separate average sizes of 9 and 17 nm, respectively. But GNPs with
low molecular weight proteins from high molecular weight various morphologies were produced using 10 mM
proteins of the plant. SDS-PAGE analysis of the dialyzed HAuCl4 in average particle size of 19 nm. The investiga-
sample confirmed the presence of proteins in the range of tion of the effect of extract concentration on GNPs syn-
1490 kDa. No reaction with gold ions was observed for thesis indicated that some aggregations and heterogeneous
low molecular weight proteins (12 kDa), whereas adding structures were formed in a lower concentration (15 %),
high molecular weight proteins to the gold ions led to the whereas more dispersion was obtained at a higher con-
formation of GNPs, which indicates that high molecular centration (45 %) along with spherical shapes. The syn-
weight proteins are responsible for the reduction of gold thesized nanoparticles showed good catalytic activity in the
ions. FT-IR spectroscopy of high molecular weight pro- reduction of p-nitroaniline with sodium borohydride as the
teins before and after the reaction showed disappearance of reducing agent. It was observed that the recovery of this
the peak at 1,064 cm-1 which corresponds to phenolic OH reaction was low without the use of GNPs as catalyst even
of tyrosine residue and to the appearance of carbonyl after 24 h, whereas the use of GNPs resulted in such a
vibration at 1,735 cm-1 due to the oxidation of the OH substantial increase in reaction rate that the reaction was
group. Thus, the authors suggested that tyrosine protein completed in \2 h. It was found that this reaction followed

123
Bioprocess Biosyst Eng

first-order kinetic. These GNPs showed such high potential shape purification of nanoparticles. In another study, C.
for recycling in the catalytic reaction that even after six platycladi extract was used for the biosynthesis of AuPd
times of recycling, the recovery of the reaction was 86.4 %. bimetallic compound. When the extract of C. platycladi
The proteins available in M. uniflorum were found to be was exposed to equimolar solution of Au and Pd, spherical
responsible for GNPs synthesis as capping and stabilizing bimetallic nanoparticles with an average size of 7.4 nm
agents [72]. UVvis spectrum of the produced GNPs in were obtained [56]. EDX mapping technique was used to
different extract quantities from 0.5 to 2 mL showed a shift determine the element distribution of Au and Pd in the
to shorter wavelengths, which indicates the decrease in bimetallic compound. The results showed that Au and Pd
particle size. As the temperature value increased from atoms were homogeneously distributed into the bimetallic
room temperature to 373 K at the same extract quantity, compound, which indicated that the AuPd bimetallic
SPR bands became broader and shifted to longer wave- structure was in alloy form. Moreover, EDX spectroscopy
lengths; this is indicative of particle size increment. A revealed that the mole fraction of Au in alloy was similar to
similar result was obtained in GNPs synthesized using A. the initial solution of Au. No SPR band was observed for
occidentale extract [29]. The rate of the reaction was GNPs in bimetallic solution. This finding revealed the
higher than at room temperature. The reaction mixture pH formation of bimetallic clusters, not phase-separated
varied from 3 to 8 at room temperature. At pH 5 and 8, the monometallic nanoparticles.
SPR bands were broad, which indicates that polydisperse In 2013, a research group investigated the use of sun-
nanoparticles were synthesized, whereas at pH values of 4, light as a catalyst in the green synthesis of GNPs [77].
6, and 7 SPR bands were sharper. At pH 6 a narrow band When a mixture of Pleurotus florida (P. florida) extract and
was observed which is characteristic of monodispersed gold ion salt was exposed to sunlight, the color changed to
spherical nanoparticles as confirmed by TEM images. violet after a few minutes, indicating the formation of
A drawback of biosynthesis methods is their slow rate in GNPs, whereas in room light or in a dark room the change
comparison with chemical synthesis methods. For this of color was observed after 1 week due to low reaction
reason, the development of new biosynthetic methods has rate. The authors explained the probable mechanism of
been an important issue. However, some plant extracts sunlight-mediated biosynthesis of nanoparticles as follows:
used for GNPs synthesis have a high reaction rate in a way the flavoproteins present in mushroom extract are light
that is comparable with that of chemical synthesis methods sensitive and, when exposed to sunlight, may get excited
like Turkevich method [75]. To the best of our knowledge, and become electron donor agents for the reduction of gold
the fastest reaction in GNPs synthesis by plant extracts was ions and the production of GNPs. Also, anticancer prop-
reported by Mohan Kumar et al. [53]. They used T. chebula erties of these nanoparticles were assessed using the MTT
seed extract to prepare GNPs where the reaction was assay. These nanoparticles showed a high potential for anti-
completed in only 20 s. They found that tannins act as proliferative activity over four different cancer lines con-
reducing and capping agents in the reaction. The produced taining A-549 (human lung carcinoma), K-562 (human
nanoparticles showed a good antibacterial effect on Gram- chronic myelogenous leukemia bone marrow), HeLa
positive S. aureus compared to Gram-negative E. coli (human cervix), and MDA-MB (human adenocarcinoma
bacteria. The rates of the other biosynthetic methods for mammary gland).
rapid green synthesis of GNPs have been mentioned in In a recent study, adding an aqueous extract of Dysosma
Table 1. pleiantha (D. pleiantha) to a solution of gold ions resulted
It is well known that the nanoparticles synthesized by in the formation of GNPs in spherical morphology with an
the use of plants and plant extracts are generally polydis- average size of 127 nm [78]. Unlike other biosynthetic
perse with different morphologies and wide size distribu- routes where the synthesis occurs at room temperature, in
tions. Size and shape purification of these nanoparticles has this study GNPs were produced at boiling temperature. The
been a great challenge in recent years. Recently, Wu et al. average particle size was inversely dependent on temper-
[76] reported an approach for size and shape separation of ature in the range of 3060 C. Interestingly, the anti-
GNPs synthesized using Cacumen platycladi (C. platycla- metastatic activity of nanoparticles against human fibro-
di) leaf extract. In the first step, size separation was per- sarcoma cancer cell line HT-1,080 was investigated. These
formed via density gradient centrifugation method. Then, nanoparticles had no toxic effect on cell proliferation. In
the size-purified GNPs were subjected to agarose gel addition, these nanoparticles showed a high potential for
electrophoresis (AGE) to separate gold nanospheres from the inhibition of cell migration of human fibrosarcoma
gold nanoplates. The authors observed that AGE cannot be cancer cell line HT-1080.
effective in shape separation of nanoparticles without ini- In 2014, the extract of Garcinia combogia (G. combo-
tial size separation by density gradient centrifugation. This gia) fruit was used for the production of GNPs in spherical
report is one of the most important papers on size and and anisotropic shapes [79]. The shape of the GNPs

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Bioprocess Biosyst Eng

depended on the extract quantity and reaction temperature. GNPs greatly enhance the intensity of Raman scattering
In this study, the produced nanoparticles were used as a of adjacent molecules. Therefore, they are widely
catalyst in the reduction of 4-nitrophenol by sodium employed in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)
borohydride. Interestingly, it was observed that the cata- for the detection and quantitative analysis of Raman active
lytic activity of GNPs is shape- and size dependent in a materials [8588]. The use of this technique enhances the
way that the reaction rate is higher in the presence of sensitivity and reproducibility of the analysis [31]. Also,
spherical GNPs in comparison to anisotropic nanoparticles. SERS by GNPs has been used in cancer research to detect
Also, the reaction happened quickly when smaller GNPs tumors [8]. Gold nanorods conjugated to anti-EGFR anti-
were used. bodies were employed to differentiate cancer cells from
normal cells using the SERS technique [89]. SERS by the
use of GNPs has also been used in immunoassays [90, 91]
Applications of the GNPs and the study of living cells [92].
The absorption of GNPs in the visible region of elec-
Unique optical properties of GNPs, which originate from tromagnetic radiation and the color change of these parti-
the SPR phenomenon, and their biocompatibility make cles against aggregation make them suitable for the
GNPs suitable for biological applications. GNPs have development of nanobiosensors. GNPs have been suc-
shown a high potential for photothermal therapy of cancer cessfully applied to quantitative determination of heavy
cells. When the GNPs are exposed to electromagnetic metals [93], blood glucose [94], and pesticides [95].
radiation, they absorb the radiations in vis and NIR regions GNPs have been applied as the adsorbent in the removal
due to resonance of surface-conductive electrons. The heat of pesticides from polluted waters. GNPs in solution state
produced is used in thermal degradation of cancer cells [7]. and supported on activated alumina have been used in the
In this field, anisotropic GNPs that possess absorption in separation of pesticides, chlorpyrifos and malathion, from
the NIR region have attracted much attention [7]. The water [96]. Moreover, these nanoparticles were effective in
optical properties and absorption value of GNPs strongly the detection and extraction of endosulfan from water
depend on the morphology and particle size of nanoparti- [97]. The GNPs capability to remove contaminants can be
cles. For this reason, the optimization of these two factors especially interesting when they are prepared using green
is very important in the photothermal degradation of cancer methods. The GNPs synthesized on the surface of Rhizopus
cells. When breast cancer cells were irradiated by NIR oryzae (a green fungal strain) showed a high capacity for
radiation in the presence of GNPs, thermal destruction of the adsorption of organophosphorous pesticides such as
the cells was observed [80]. Also, GNPs with coreshell malathion, parathion, chlorpyrifos, dimethoate, and c-BHC
structure were used in the thermal treatment of prostate from contaminated water [98].
cancer [81]. GNPs have exhibited strong antimicrobial properties.
The ability of GNPs to strongly scatter visible light and The antimicrobial activities of biosynthesized GNPs have
their biocompatibility suggest that they can be applied to been reported by Sreelakshmi et al. [39], Mohan Kumar
cellular and biomedical imaging as contrast agents [7]. et al. [53], and Das et al. [98].
Traditional contrast agents are based on fluorescent GNPs have been widely used in the catalysis of chem-
absorbance. However, the use of these agents is limited due ical reactions such as oxidation and degradation of carbon
to their toxicity to humans and their potential for photo- monoxide [99], methanol [100], and hydrogenation of
degradation [5]. For this reason, GNPs have been consid- unsaturated materials [101]. The catalytic activity of GNPs
ered an alternative in biological imaging. GNPs conjugated has been reviewed by Daniel et al. [102].
to antibodies can be used in the differentiation of cancerous
cells from non-cancerous cells by dark field light scattering
[7]. Also, there have been reports on the use of gold Conclusion
nanorods in cell imaging using techniques such as dark
field light SPR scattering and photoacoustic imaging [82, Biological applications of metallic nanoparticles, espe-
83]. cially GNPs, have increased the need to develop green
Thanks to the low toxicity of GNPs, the ease with which methods in the synthesis of these nanoparticles. Plants are
monodisperse GNPs are prepared, facile tunability of GNP inexpensive, available, generally benign, and renewable
size, and the possibility of functionalization of GNPs sur- sources. Also, it is easy to prepare an extract from them.
face using thiol linkage, GNPs can be successfully used in For these reasons, they have a high potential for metallic
drug, gen, and other biomolecule delivery [10]. For nanoparticle production. The great variety of plants in
example, GNPs were employed as carrier in the preparation nature leads to a great diversity in types and amounts of
of the anticancer agent, paclitaxel [84]. reducing and capping agents from plant extracts, which

123
Bioprocess Biosyst Eng

makes possible the facile production of metallic nanopar- 8. Huang X, El-Sayed MA (2010) Gold nanoparticles: optical
ticles of different shapes and morphologies. Size and shape properties and implementations in cancer diagnosis and photo-
thermal therapy. J Adv Res 1:1328
optimization is possible through the adjustment of tem- 9. Narayanan KB, Sakthivel N (2010) Phytosynthesis of gold
perature, pH, metallic ion concentration, and extract con- nanoparticles using leaf extract of Coleus amboinicus Lour.
centration or quantity. The reaction rate depends on the Mater Charact 61:12321238
plant type and its amount. At the present time, the rate and 10. Ghosh P, Han G, De M, Kim CK, Rotello VM (2008) Gold
nanoparticles in delivery applications. Adv Drug Deliv Rev
recovery of reactions involved in the production of nano- 60:13071315
particles using plant extracts are comparable with those of 11. Boisselier E, Astruc D (2009) Gold nanoparticles in nanomed-
well-known chemical methods. Recent trends in biosyn- icine: preparations, imaging, diagnostics, therapies and toxicity.
thesis of metallic nanoparticles include the production of Chem Soc Rev 38:17591782
12. Raveendran P, Fu J, Wallen SL (2003) Completely green
these particles in monodisperse and pure morphologies, synthesis and stabilization of metal nanoparticles. J Am Chem
and shape and size separation of polydisperse metallic Soc 125:1394013941
nanoparticles. Furthermore, recent studies are moving 13. Panigrahi S, Kundu S, Ghosh S, Nath S, Pal T (2004) General
toward finding new biological applications for these green method of synthesis for metal nanoparticles. J Nanopart Res
6:411414
synthesized nanoparticles, especially in cancer research. 14. Vigneshwaran N, Nachane R, Balasubramanya R, Varadarajan P
Although this is a review article on GNPs synthesis, the (2006) A novel one-pot green synthesis of stable silver nano-
aforementioned synthesis methods are also generally particles using soluble starch. Carbohydr Res 341:20122018
applicable to preparation of other metallic nanoparticles 15. Huang H, Yang X (2004) Synthesis of polysaccharide-stabilized
gold and silver nanoparticles: a green method. Carbohydr Res
such as silver, platinum, and palladium. This is because the 339:26272631
synthesis mechanism of other metallic nanoparticles is the 16. Sun C, Qu R, Chen H, Ji C, Wang C, Sun Y, Wang B (2008)
same as that of GNPs, i.e., the reduction of metallic ions. Degradation behavior of chitosan chains in the green synthesis
This may happen under the same or modified reaction of gold nanoparticles. Carbohydr Res 343:25952599
17. Saha S, Pal A, Kundu S, Basu S, Pal T (2009) Photochemical
conditions involved in GNPs production. For example, it green synthesis of calcium-alginate-stabilized Ag and Au
may be necessary to heat the reaction mixture in the syn- nanoparticles and their catalytic application to 4-nitrophenol
thesis of silver nanoparticles because electrode potential of reduction. Langmuir 26:28852893
the silver is less than that of gold ion. 18. Virkutyte J, Varma RS (2011) Green synthesis of metal nano-
particles: biodegradable polymers and enzymes in stabilization
and surface functionalization. Chem Sci 2:837846
Acknowledgments The author would like to thank Mr. Moham- 19. Lengke MF, Fleet ME, Southam G (2007) Biosynthesis of silver
madreza Norouzi for editing the manuscript. nanoparticles by filamentous cyanobacteria from a silver
(I) nitrate complex. Langmuir 23:26942699
20. Juibari MM, Abbasalizadeh S, Jouzani GS, Noruzi M (2011)
Intensified biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles using a native
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