Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles, decorated on graphene oxide nanosheets and their catalytic activity

In this study, we develop an inexpensive and green route for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using Picrasma quassioides bark aqueous extract as reducing and capping agent and also eco-friendly decorate graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets with AgNPs (GO-AgNPs). Green synthesized AgNPs and GO-AgNPs composites were characterized by UV-Visible spectroscopy, SEM-EDX, and TEM-SAED techniques. The resulting GO-AgNPs contained about 41.35% of Ag and the AgNPs size ranges 17.5-66.5 nm, and GO-AgNPs size ranges 10-49.5 nm. Moreover, the GO-AgNPs exhibited excellent catalytic activity towards the methylene blue (MB) in the presence of sodium borohydride (NaBH4) at room temperature. This catalytic reaction completed within 15 min. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.