Synergetic effect of sodium citrate and starch in the synthesis of silver nanoparticles

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were prepared under mild conditions by exploiting a combination of naturally abundant polymer starch and trisodium citrate as reducing agent and stabilizing agent. Optimization of the concentration of starch, citrate, pH, and reaction time showed significant influence on the size of the NPs. The obtained NPs were well characterized by UVVis, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. The effect of varying proportions of citrate and starch and the order of their addition to the reaction mixture with respect to their role as reducing or, and stabilizing agents was also studied. The antibacterial activity of thus prepared NPs is being reported. (c) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012