Journal of Nanomedicine & Nanotechnology

Large scale screening of Southern African plant extracts for the green synthesis of gold nanoparticles using microtitre-plate method

7^th World Nano Conference

June 20-21, 2016 Cape Town, South Africa

Abdul Rahman M Elbagory, Christopher N Cupido, Mervin Meyer and Ahmed A Hussein

University of the Western Cape, South Africa
South African National Biodiversity Institute, South Africa

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Nanomed Nanotechnol

Abstract:

The synthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) involves a variety of chemical and physical methods. These methods use toxic and environmentally harmful chemicals. Consequently, the synthesis of AuNPs using green chemistry has been under investigation to develop biocompatible and eco-friendly nanoparticles. One method to achieve this is the use of plant-derived phytochemicals that are capable of reducing gold ions to produce AuNPs. In this study, we report the synthesis of AuNPs from a large number of aqueous extracts of South African plants using a facile microtitre-plate method. The synthesized AuNPs were characterized by Ultra Violet-Visible Spectroscopy, Dynamic Light Scattering, High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy and Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy. We also studied the effects of temperature on the synthesis of the nanoparticles and observed how it can control the size, shape and surface properties of the synthesized AuNPs. Further, the in vitro stability of the AuNPs was investigated and confirmed that AuNPs from some extracts can resist aggregation under wide range of environmental conditions. In the future, the biocompatibility and potential bioactivity of these AuNPs will be further investigated using in vitro human cell cultures.

Biography :

Email: ahmohammed@uwc.ac.za