Green Synthesized Gold Nanoparticles with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity

Biosynthesis of nanoparticles employing plant extracts has become incredibly popular as a simple and environmentally benign alternative to chemical and physical methods for synthesizing nanoparticles. The present work reports a low-cost green synthesis of gold nanoparticles (GNP) using green tea leaf extract as a reducing and stabilizing agent. Synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by UV-Visible absorption spectroscopy and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) to confirm the presence of GNP in the solution. Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) analysis confirmed the particle size in the range of 43 nm. These biosynthesized GNP were studied to understand their catalytic role in photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) under daylight conditions. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.