Dextrin-mediated synthesis of Ag NPs for colorimetric assays of Cu(2+) ion and Au NPs for catalytic activity.

A facile one-pot approach for rapid synthesis of silver and gold nanoparticles (Ag NPs and Au NPs) with narrow size distribution and good stability was described by reducing silver nitrate and chloroauric acid with polysaccharide dextrin. Here, dextrin was used as both a reducing and stabilizing agent for synthesis of NPs. The as-synthesized Ag NPs and Au NPs were characterized by UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The Ag NPs and Au NPs exhibited an absorption maxima at 404 and 547 nm respectively. TEM images showed NPs in the range of 8-28 nm. The crystallinity of the NPs was measured by XRD analysis. Furthermore, the as-prepared Ag NPs revealed colorimetric sensor property for detection of Cu(2+) ions based on changes in absorbance resulting from metal ion-induced aggregation of NPs or direct deposition of metal ions onto NPs. The as-prepared Au NPs exhibited a notable catalytic activity toward the reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol in the presence of NaBH4.