Gold and Silver Nanocrystals as Pseudohomogeneous Catalysts for the Reduction of Methylene Blue

Abstract

A novel one-pot carbohydrate-based green synthesis of gold and silver nanoparticles is proposed and optimized. The obtained nanoparticles are compared to classic starch-glucose synthesized analogues. Difference in size, morphology, crystallinity, obtained by UV-Vis spectroscopy, XRD, TEM and DLS, as well as composition and capping agents are taken into consideration. Tests for the reduction of the dye methylene blue with all of the nanoparticles as catalysts are concluded and kinetic data points such as the apparent rate constants of the reactions are gathered and compared. The data shows that, even though there is room for optimization of the novel synthesis method, the produced nanoparticles prove to be promising catalysts for pseudohomogeneous reactions.