Environmentally Friendly Preparation of Gold and Silver Nanoparticles for Sers Applications Using Biopolymer Pectin

A facile, one-step, and environmentally friendly fabrication of anisotropic gold nanostructures and size-controlled spherical silver nanoparticles (NP) using biopolymer pectin is reported. The reduction of Au and Ag ions was carried out at room temperature using an increasing concentration of pectin, which acts as the single source of reducing and stabilizing agent. The as-formed NPs were studied by UV-vis, infrared Fourier transform and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopies, as well as transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. A high yield of anisotropic gold nanostructures was observed at low concentrations of pectin, while its increase results in the formation of smaller sharp edged perfect triangles with a considerable number of quasi-spherically shaped gold NP. On the other hand, the size of spherical silver NP decreased as the biopolymer concentration in the solution increased. The surface-enhanced Raman scattering enhancement of different NPs was evaluated using a Cu-complex of cationic tetrakis(4-N-methylpyridyl)porphyrin as a probe molecule at 441.6 and 532 nm excitation. Great enhancement of Raman signal was obtained with a pectin–silver NP and for most of them their levels were higher than that for the routinely synthesized citrate silver NP. © 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York.