Preparation of Spherical Gold Nanoparticles Capped by Fragaria ananassa (Strawberry) Fruit Extract and their Catalytic Activity for Degradation of Industrial Dyes

摘要

The prospect of developing new approaches in the assembly of noble metal nanoparticles and its functions has been garnering intense interest among researchers in various fields. The green synthesis method is an evolving trend as it is environment benign and aids in large-scale formation of nanoparticles. The versatile properties of green synthesized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) like surface plasmon resonance, stability and morphology are examined by UV-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), dynamic light scattering (DLS), zeta potential (ZP) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) studies at pH 7. Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) analysis confirms the pivotal role of anthocyanins and polyphenols in Fragaria ananassa (strawberry) fruit extract for the capping of AuNPs. The size of gold nanoparticles is in the range of 10 to 40 nm and they exhibit greater negative value of zeta potential. The catalytically active AuNPs follow the pseudo-first order kinetic model and takes 10 min for rapid degradation and adsorption of methylene blue dye from aqueous solution. These results confirm that Fragaria ananassa has a remarkable function in the plant-mediated synthesis of AuNPs and thus can emerge as a positive platform to convert water pollutants into harmless molecules.