Green Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Using Azadirachta Indica (Neem)leaves Extract

Abstract

Noble metals nanoparticles are considered as promising material due to their unconventional characteristics owing to several technological applications. Their small size and large surface to volume ratio as compared to their bulk form leads to differences in their physical and chemical properties. As the results, these metallic nanoparticles have found a wide range of applications in almost all fields of research. Silver (Ag) nanoparticles are the most common one being employed in emerging interdisciplinary and brightest field due to their fascinating optical properties owing to their strong surface Plasmon resonance. As compared to the conventional chemical methods used to synthesize silver nanoparticles, biological synthesis showed some advantages such as cost effective, rapid and eco- friendly. In this work, silver nanoparticles were synthesized by chemical reduction methods using Neem extract as reducing agent. During synthesis, the color was changed after addition of Neem extract, indicating the formation of silver nanoparticles. The obtained nanoparticles (in solution) were further characterized by UV-VIS spectrometer. The obtained absorption spectra showed an absorption peak in visible region owing to localized surface Plasmon resonance which confirms the formation of silver nanoparticles. In addition, the effect of Neem quantity and boiling time on the formation of silver nanoparticles was also investigated. The obtained results showed that the boiling time and the concentration of Neem extract had no obvious effect on the particle size but instead enhanced interaction rate. The particle size of silver was calculated using Mie theory and the average size was found to be ~5.3 nm.