A Promising Technique of Aegle Marmelos Leaf Extract Mediated Self-Assembly for Silver Nanoprism Formation

The Aegle marmelos leaf extract (LE) mediated synthesis of prismatic and spherical Ag nanoparticles (NPs) has been studied. The formation of prismatic structures from spherical NPs was observed microscopically using scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, and atomic force microscope. The shape transformation from spherical NPs to prismatic nanostructures was studied by simply changing LE concentration, keeping constant AgNO3 concentration (1 mM). The role of pH toward prism formation and the effect of sonication on the formed structures were also investigated. The antimicrobial activity of the synthesized Ag spherical/prismatic NPs was evaluated against gram negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and on a phytopathogen Fusarium solani. This green synthesis approach for the synthesis of prismatic Ag nanostructures may be useful for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy application for the detection of low concentration organic molecules, apart from the studied antimicrobial activity. (C) 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers