Plant system: Nature's nanofactory

Three categories of plants growing under three different extreme conditions were taken for assaying their promises to undertake nano-transformation. It was found that all of them successfully synthesize silver nanoparticles. The synthesis was performed akin to room temperature. X-ray and transmission electron microscopy analyses were performed to ascertain the formation of silver nanoparticles. X-ray analysis indicated that silver nanoparticles have FCC unit cell structure. Individual nanoparticles having the particle sizes of 2-5 nm were found. Possible involved mechanisms for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles from above plant systems have also been proposed. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.