Biosynthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Using Epilobium parviflorum Green Tea Extract: Analytical Applications to Colorimetric Detection of Hg2+ Ions and Reduction of Hazardous Organic Dyes

Abstract

The present paper reports an unexplored simple, single step and cost effective green process for the preparation of highly stable silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using Epilobium parviflorum (EP) extract and investigates their catalytic activity towards hazardous organic dyes, congo red (CR), rhodamine B (RhB), methyl orange (MO), methyl red (MR), and colorimetric sensing ability for Hg2+ ions in solutions. Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) studies confirmed the capping and stabilization of the AgNPs by EP extract. X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern showed face centered cubic structure for the AgNPs. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) validated that the AgNPs are spherical in shape with narrow size distribution of 5.59 +/- 1.12 nm. The results indicate that regardless of their good linear dynamic range (0.5-5.0 mu M), detection limit (58.11 nM, 11.62 ppb) and selectivity for the accurate determination of Hg2+ ions, the AgNPs can be attractive choices for wastewater management systems.