Extracellular biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles: effects of shape-directing cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, pH, sunlight and additives

The work reported in this paper describes the preparation, morphology, stability and sensitivity of Ag-nanoparticles towards sunlight using Allium sativum, garlic extract for the first time. The synthesized silver particles show an intense surface plasmon resonance band in the visible region at 410 nm. The position of the wavelength maxima, blue and red shift, strongly depends on the sunlight and pH. TEM analysis revealed the presence of spherical, different size (from 5.0 to 30 nm) and garlic constituents bio-conjugated, stabilized and/or layered silver nanoparticles. The concentrations of garlic extract, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, Ag+ ions and reaction time play vital roles for nucleus formation and the growth processes. Sulfur-containing biomolecules of extract, especially cysteine, are responsible for the reduction of Ag+ ions into metallic Ag-0. The agglomeration number of the silver nanoparticles (N (Ag)) and the average number of free electrons per particle (n (fe)) are calculated and discussed.