Green synthesis of the silver nanoparticles mediated by pullulan and 6-carboxypullulan

Sergiu Coseri; Alina Spatareanu; Liviu Sacarescu; Cristina Rimbu; Daniela Suteu; Stefan Spirk; Valeria Harabagiu

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2014.06.008

Green synthesis of the silver nanoparticles mediated by pullulan and 6-carboxypullulan

Carbohydr Polym. 2015 Feb 13:116:9-17. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2014.06.008. Epub 2014 Jun 12.

Authors

Sergiu Coseri¹, Alina Spatareanu², Liviu Sacarescu², Cristina Rimbu³, Daniela Suteu⁴, Stefan Spirk⁵, Valeria Harabagiu²

Affiliations

¹ Petru Poni Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry of Romanian Academy, 41 A, Gr. Ghica Voda Alley, 700487 Iasi, Romania. Electronic address: coseris@icmpp.ro.
² Petru Poni Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry of Romanian Academy, 41 A, Gr. Ghica Voda Alley, 700487 Iasi, Romania.
³ University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine-UASVM Iaşi, Aleea Mihail Sadoveanu nr.8, 700489 Iaşi, Romania.
⁴ "Gheorghe Asachi" Technical University of Iasi, Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Protection, 71A Prof. Dr. Docent D. Mangeron Blvd, 700050 Iasi, Romania.
⁵ Graz University of Technology, Institute for Chemistry and Technology of Materials, Stremayrgasse 9, 8010 Graz, Austria; University of Maribor, Institute for the Engineering of Materials and Design, Smetanova Ulica 17, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia. Electronic address: stefan.spirk@tugraz.at.

PMID: 25458267
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2014.06.008

Abstract

Unoxidized and carboxylated pullulan (obtained by pullulan oxidation using TEMPO-sodium hypochlorite-sodium bromide system) have been used as mediators for the silver nanoparticles formation (AgNPs), under environment-friendly conditions: using aqueous solutions, room temperature and notably, by using both mediators as reducing and stabilizing agents. The formation of AgNPs was first screened by measuring the surface plasmon resonance peak in the range of 380-440 nm using UV-vis spectroscopy. The morphology of the synthesized silver nanoparticles was determined by TEM, which indicated that the AgNPs differ on shape and thickness of the polymer shell by varying the silver nitrate concentration, different size and shape of AgNPs was achieved. The presence of elemental silver and the crystalline structure of the AgNPs were confirmed by EDX and XRD analyses. Moreover, the possible functional groups of pullulan (oxidized pullulan) responsible for the reduction and stabilization of AgNPs were evaluated using FT-IR. The results showed that both, pullulan and 6-carboxypullulan could be successfully used as reducing as well as capping agents for the AgNPs synthesis which shows potential antimicrobial activity against Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria.

Keywords: 6-Carboxypullulan; Oxidation; Pullulan; Silver nanoparticles; TEMPO.