Capuli cherry-mediated green synthesis of silver nanoparticles under white solar and blue LED light

In this article, the Capuli (Prunus serotina Ehrh. var. Capuli) cherry extract was used for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in the presence of white/visible solar and blue light-emitting diode (LED) light. For the characterization of the extract and the AgNPs, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy were employed, along with hydrodynamic particle size analysis, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The Ag nanospheres obtained using white light were 40-100 nm in diameter and exhibited an absorption peak at lambda(max) = 445 nm, whereas those obtained using blue LED light were 20-80 nm in diameter with an absorption peak at lambda(max) = 425 nm. Thermal analysis revealed that the content of biomolecules surrounding the AgNPs was about 55-65%, and it was also found that blue LED light AgNPs (56.28%, 0.05 mM) had a higher antioxidant efficacy than the white solar light AgNPs (33.42%, 0.05 mM) against 1,1-dipheny1-2-picrylhydrazyl. The results indicate that obtaining AgNPs using a blue LED light may prove to be a simple, cost-effective and easily reproducible method for creating future nanopharmaceuticals. (C) 2015 Chinese Society of Particuology and Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.