from the conferences organized by TANGER Ltd.
Biomedical applications of nanomaterials depend on the size and morphology of nanoparticles and their biocompatibility. However, the armory of trusted protocols usually includes reducing agents, including sodium borohydride, methoxy polyethylene glycol, potassium tartrate, etc., and capping agents, such as sodium dodecyl benzyl sulfate, polyvinylpyrrolidone, etc., which are usually toxic. The unavoidable presence of toxic compounds in nanocolloid systems limits the use of nanoparticles for biological systems. This study aims to synthesize non-spherical gold nanoparticles using plant extracts and characterize their properties for biomedical applications. Gold nanoparticles were obtained through the direct interaction of Au3+ cations with aqueous extracts of selected plants (elderberry and peppermint) under different synthetic conditions. Ultraviolet and visible spectroscopic measurements confirmed the response of the obtained Au nanocolloid solutions to near-infrared radiation. This response opens the prospect of using the obtained nanoparticles in nanomedicine for antitumor therapy, targeted drug transport, diagnostics, or drug delivery systems. The position of the maximum near-infrared radiation can be adjusted by the synthetic conditions (extract composition, concentration, reagent ratio, pH, and temperature). Transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy showed the formation of a mixture of circum-spherical Au nanoparticles and non-spherical Au nanoparticles: nanotriangles with sizes from 20 nm and nanohexagons with sizes > 100 nm.
Keywords: Plasmonic nanoparticles, phytosynthesis, non-spherical nanoparticles, biocompatible nanoparticles© This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.