Green tea induced gold nanostar synthesis mediated by Ag(I) ions

TL;DR

This paper presents a green synthesis method for gold nanostars using tea components and Ag(I) ions, resulting in nanoparticles with strong near-infrared absorption, highlighting an eco-friendly approach to nanomaterial fabrication.

Contribution

It introduces a novel green synthesis technique for gold nanostars mediated by tea components and silver ions, emphasizing environmentally friendly nanoparticle production.

Findings

Green tea acts as a reducing and stabilizing agent.

Ag(I) ions induce anisotropic, branched growth of gold nanoparticles.

Synthesized nanostars exhibit strong near-infrared absorption.

Abstract

We report a synthesis of tea components conjugated gold nanostars (AuNSs) with strong near infrared absorption by reducing an aqueous solution of chloroauric acid trihydrate via green tea in association with Ag(I) ions. Green tea acts as a reducing agent by providing electrons for the gold (III) reduction as well as a stabilizing agent by conjugating some of its components on the surfaces of AuNSs. Moreover, the Ag(I) ions play an important role in mediating the branched growth of the resultant AuNSs by inducing anisotropic growth on the surfaces of initially formed spherical gold nanoparticles.