Green Synthesis of High Yield Mono-dispersed Gold Nanoparticles Using Silk-Sericin and Characterization

The synthesis of gold nanoparticles using silk sericin (SS) extracted from Bombyx mori silk cocoons is an eco-friendly, low-cost, non-toxic, and facile method. The synthesis of biocompatible gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) by the redox reaction of chloroauric acid (HAuCl4 center dot H2O) with SS is reported here. Synthesized SS-AuNPs were confirmed by the visual recognition of changes in color from pale yellow to pink color, and it was further confirmed by various analytical techniques. UV-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis) confirmed the formation of gold nanoparticles by showing surface plasmon resonance (SPR) strong peak at lambda = 520nm. Fourier transmission infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy reveals the presence of secondary functional groups involved in redox reaction. High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) illustrated the formed AuNPs are spherical in shape with highly crystalline nature. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) study reveals the average particles size and size distribution of the SS-AuNPs present in the solution.