Screening of Microalgae for Silver Nanopartical Synthesis

Abstract

Nanomaterials are a major attraction in the field of nanotechnology which is rapidly developing. Their size dependent properties make them indispensible and superior as compared to other bulk materials in a plethora of human activities. Nanoscience gives us noteworthy approaches influencing a variety of biological processes and thus has a great impact. Especially in medicine, nanoparticles of silver (Ag-NPs) play an important role by giving already existing methodologies and procedures an edge, making them safer to use and more efficient and effective. The aim of the experimentations was to achieve silver nanoparticle production through green synthesis using microbial cultures of microalgae by adding AgNO3 to cell culture medium as a nitrogen source. Cultures of Scenedesmus quadricauda were used for the same. Modification of the cultures was tried to be performed my microwave irradiation and results were compared with unmodified culture. The result of the experiment was a colour change of the solution within 12 hours of incubation, which indicates formation of Ag-NPs or silver nanoparticles. Ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis; 300-800nm) spectroscopy was performed on samples collected every 12 hours for 5 days of incubation to obtain peaks near 370nm and 700nm which indicates different size and shape of the produced nanoparticles.