Green Nanotechnology: Effect of Proteins on the Synthesis of Gold Nanoparticles

Over the last decade, the field of green nanotechnology has received a great deal of research attention due to its cost-effectiveness and environmental friendliness. The green approach has been successfully used to develop metallic nanoparticles of various sizes and morphologies for various biomedical applications and has resulted in the successful development of these particles. By combining two different types of proteins in this work and synthesizing them in a balanced manner, we have been able to synthesize spherical gold nanoparticles with low polydispersity, namely peptone and whey. Due to the presence of a large number of chemical functional moieties, proteins have a great deal of variety and can act in a variety of ways such as reducing and stabilizing. The formation of gold nanoparticles was studied by UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, and a strong surface plasmon resonance peak centered at 520 nm confirmed the presence of the nanoparticles in the solution. The size and morphology was studied using transmission electron microscopy. The particles were spherical and contained an organic protein coat which offered stability against aggregation in solution. It is currently being studied as to whether these nanoparticles can produce fluorescence and antibacterial properties in order to broaden the range of biomedical applications of these colloidal materials.