Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles using Some Alcoholic Beverages from Nigeria Market
Transcript of Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles using Some Alcoholic Beverages from Nigeria Market
Copyright © 2013 by Modern Scientific Press Company, Florida, USA
International Journal of Nano and Material Sciences, 2013, 2(1): 25-35
International Journal of Nano and Material Sciences
Journal homepage: www.ModernScientificPress.com/Journals/ijnanos.aspx
ISSN: 2166-0182
Florida, USA
Article
Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles using Some Alcoholic
Beverages from Nigeria Market
Adesuji Elijah Temitope
1, Elemike Elias Emeka
1, Chuku Aleruchi
2, Labulo Ayomide Hassan
1,
Owoseni Mojisola Christiana2 Oseghale Charles Ojiefoh
1, Mfon Rebecca
3, Dare Olugbenga
Enoch1*
1 Department of Chemistry, Federal University Lafia, Nigeria
2 Department of Biological Sciences, Federal University Lafia, Nigeria
3 Department of Physics, Federal University Lafia, Nigeria
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: [email protected]; Tel.: +
2347063917311.
Article history: Received 18 April 2013, Received in revised form 16 May 2013, Accepted 19 May
2013, Published 22 May 2013.
Abstract: In this research work carried out at the Chemistry Laboratory of Federal
University Lafia, silver was nanostructured using some alcoholic beverages obtained from
Nigeria. There has been much interest as regards to readily available substrates or
environmentally friendly materials that will give nano-silver apart from the known and
established methods. This research was aimed at using some cheap and biological means
for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles. Ten alcoholic beverages have been used for this
work and they include, Gulder, Guinness Stout, Harp, 33 Lager, Smirnoff-ice, Star,
Legend, Williams, Goldberg and Heineken. The UV/vis spectrometric studies of the
nanoparticles were carried out at various intervals (0,2,5,10,15 and 30 minutes) and the
results showed charateristic silver nanoparticles absorption at wavelength 400-450nm for
all the beverages used. These were equally manifested through the different colour changes
of the samples. Most of the absorption peaks were obtained at 30minutes interval while
some appeared immediately. The Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) revealed that
the nanoparticles are all spherical in shape and the sizes ranges from 6.5-20 nm. We can
therefore report that alcoholic beverages are not only meant for consumption as this study
has shown us; they can be applied in nanoscience and nanotechnology.
Keywords: Alcoholic beverages, Silver nanoparticles, UV vis spectrometry, Nanoscience
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1. Introduction
Nanotechnology is an important field of modern research dealing with design, synthesis and
manipulation of particles structure ranging from approximately 1-100 nm. Tremendous growth in this
emerging technology has opened novel fundamental and applied frontiers, including the synthesis of
nanoscale materials and exploration or utilization of their exotic physicochemical and optoelectronic
properties. Among the metals, silver nanoparticles have shown potential applications in various fields
such as the environment, bio-medicine, catalysis, optics and electronics [1].
Silver has an important advantage over conventional antibiotics in that it kills all pathogenic
microorganisms, and no organism has ever been reported to readily develop resistance to it. Colloidal
silver has been known for a long time to possess antimicrobial properties and also to be non-toxic and
environmentally friendly. Researchers believe that the potential of colloidal silver is just beginning to
be discovered. [2]
The unique properties of silver nanoparticles (e.g., size and shape depending optical, electrical,
and magnetic properties) has facilitated its incorporation into biosensor materials, antimicrobial
applications, composite fibers, cryogenic superconducting materials, cosmetic products, and electronic
components. Several physical and chemical methods have been used to synthesize and stabilize silver
nanoparticles [3, 4]. The most popular chemical approaches, including chemical reduction using a
variety of organic and inorganic reducing agents, electrochemical techniques, physicochemical
reduction, and radiolysis are widely used for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles. Silver nanoparticles
with controllable sizes were synthesized by reduction of [Ag(NH3)2]+ with glucose, galactose, maltose,
and lactose [5]. Recently, nanoparticle synthesis is among the most interesting scientific areas of
inquiry, and there is growing attention to produce nanoparticles using environmentally friendly
methods (green chemistry). Biological methods can be used to synthesize silver nanoparticles without
the use of any harsh, toxic and expensive chemical substances. The bioreduction of metal ions by
combinations of biomolecules found in the extracts of certain organisms (e.g., enzymes/proteins,
amino acids, polysaccharides, and vitamins) is environmentally benign, yet chemically complex [6].
The consumption of alcohol can have beneficial or harmful effects depending on the amount
consumed, age and other characteristics of the person consuming the alcohol, and specifics of the
situation. Alcoholic beverages mean any liquid suitable for drinking by human beings, which contains
one-half of one percent or more of alcohol by volume. Beer means any malt beverage containing one-
half of one percent or more of alcohol by volume. The term “alcohol” refers to ethyl alcohol or ethanol
[7]. Beer is an alcoholic beverage obtained by fermenting a liquor (wort) prepared from malted barley
or wheat, water and (usually) hops. Certain quantities of non-malted cereals (e.g., maize (corn) or rice)
may also be used for the preparation of the liquor (wort). The addition of hops imparts a bitter and
Int. J. Nano & Matl. Sci. 2013, 2(1): 25-35
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aromatic flavour and improves the keeping qualities. Cherries or other flavouring substances are
sometimes added during fermentation. Sugar (particularly glucose), colouring matter, carbon dioxide
and other substances may also be added. Alcoholic beverages contain a wide range of volatile
compounds, including alcohols and short-chain aldehydes. The main ingredients in alcoholic beverages
are water, sorghum, malted barley, maltose or sucrose and hops. Beer is created when brewer’s yeast
converts malt sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Ethanol is present in alcoholic beverages as a
consequence of the fermentation of carbohydrates with yeast. The bittering, flavor, and aroma
characteristics of hops are created by two major types of chemical compounds contained in the cone-
shaped hop flower: acids and oils. The acids in question are alpha acids (humulone, adhumulone, and
cohumulone), which form iso-alpha acids in the oil; and beta acids, which are the hop's essential oils
(primarily humulene, myrcene, caryophyllene and farnesene). Along with alpha acids, hops contain
beta acids, principally lupulone, colupulone and adlupulone. These are rarely considered separately,
but the beta acids as a whole are important to a beer's flavor. Sucrose and fructose are the primary
nonstructural sugars that are readily extracted from garlic [8] and likely function as both the reducing
agent and stabilizing chemistries. This theory is supported by recent work which shows that sucrose
and fructose can function as reducing agents for the synthesis of aqueous dispersions of silver
nanoparticles [9]as well as stabilizing ligands for various metal nanoparticles (e.g., Au, Ag, Pd, and Pt)
[10]. Also, it has been shown that alcohols (-OH functional group) can serve as reducing agent in the
synthesis of silver nanoparticles [2, 11]. Hence, in the present investigation, synthesis of silver
nanoparticles using the various alcoholic beverages along with their spectroscopic characteristics are
presented and discussed.
2. Materials and Method
2.1. Reagents and Chemicals
Silver nitrate (AgNO3) was obtained from Sigma Aldrich. Freshly prepared triple distilled
water was used throughout the experimental work.
2.2. Collection of Materials
Ten alcoholic beverages (beer), which include Gulder, Star, 33 Lager, Heineken, Williams,
Harp, Hero, Smirnoff-ice, Goldberg and Legend, were purchased from the beverage dealer in Nigeria
and used as collected for this study.
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2.3. Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles
In a typical experiment, 1.0 ml of alcoholic beverage was measured and added to 4.0 ml of 1.0
mM aqueous silver nitrate (AgNO3) solution at 80 oC. Within time intervals (0 -30 minutes), there
were observable changes in colour signifying the reduction to silver nanoparticle. These samples were
further studied using UV/vis spectrophotometer and their absorption values recorded (Figs 1-10)
2.4. Characterization
The reduction of monovalent Ag+ ions to Ag
0 was monitored by measuring the UV-vis
spectrum of sample aliquots (0.3 ml) of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) solution, which was diluted to
3.0 ml with distilled water. UV-vis spectral analysis was done using UV-vis spectrophotometer
Systronics 118 at the range of 300-700 nm and absorption peaks were observed at 400-490nm regions
due to the excitation of surface plasmon vibrations in the AgNPs solution, which are identical to the
characteristics UV-vis spectrum of metallic silver. Transmission electron microscopy of the samples
were done using PHILIPS-CM 200 instrument operated at an accelerating voltage of 200kV.
3. Results and Discussion
Ten alcoholic beverages were used to produce silver nanoparticles. The progress in conversion
reaction of silver ions to silver nanoparticles was followed by a color change and spectroscopic
techniques. The reductions of silver ions into silver nanoparticles were noticed by the different colour
changes, which were later confirmed by the absorption peaks given by the spectroscopic
measurements. The main ingredients and flavourings in these beverages contain functional groups like
carbonyl, phenolic, that contributed to the reduction and stabilization of the silver nanoparticles [2,
10]. Sucrose and fructose are the primary nonstructural sugars that are readily extracted from garlic [8]
and used in beer and likely function as both the reducing agent and stabilizing chemistries. Also, it has
been shown that alcohols (-OH functional group) can serve as reducing agent in the synthesis of silver
nanoparticles [2, 11]; therefore, it is being suggested that the phenolic as well as carbonyl functional
group in alpha acids, essential oil, ethanol and reducing sugar which are all present in the beverages
will help in the reduction and stabilization of the silver nanoparticles.
The different colours and absorption peaks for all the samples used in this study are reported
table 1.
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Table 1: Different colours and absorption maxima for the synthesized silver nanoparticles
Sample Colour( initial) Colour (final) Colour intensity λmax (nm) Result
Gulder Golden yellow Bark brown ++ 420 +
Star Pale yellow Light brown + 425 +
33 lager Light yellow Dark yellow ++ 450 +
Smirnoff- ice White Dirty brown ++ 420 +
Harp Light yellow Dark yellow ++ nil -
Legend Black Brown +++ nil -
Guinness Black Brown +++ nil -
Heineken Light yellow Dark yellow ++ 425 +
Williams Black Dark brown +++ 405 +
Goldberg Black Dirty brown ++ nil -
Colour intensity: - + = light colour; ++ dark colour; very dark colour: Result: -+ = Positive, -- = negative
3.1. UV-vis Spectrometry and Color Change for the Synthesized Silver Nano Particles
The UV vis spectrometry of the synthesized nano particles were in the range of 400-450 nm.
All the alcoholic beverages showed positive results to the synthesis of the silver nanoparticles giving
suitable Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) with high band intensities and peaks under visible
spectrum. The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) behavior of nanoparticles synthesized by the
beverages was shown by absorption maxima at various wavelengths. Gulder showed maximum
absorption (420 nm) at 15 minutes (Fig. 1), Star showed absorption at 425 nm (Fig. 2) while 33 lager
(Fig. 3) gave a peak at 450 nm. Smirnoff ice (Fig.4) showed maximum absorption at 420 nm. Harp,
Legend and Guinness gave weak absorption and showed no peak at the visible region (Figs 5, 6 and 7
respectively). At 425 nm Heineken (Fig 8.) showed maximum absorption with a sharp change in color,
while Williams (405 nm) showed considerable change in color (Fig 9). Goldberg (Fig. 10) did not
actually give a convincing absorption spectrum.
3.2. Transmission Electron Microscopy
The morphology of the synthesized Ag nanoparticles of the alcoholic beverages displayed
distinct spherical shapes. The TEM of Star gave a representative size of 7 nm (Fig. 11). The sizes of
other alcoholic beverages varied from 6.5 – 20 nm.
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Fig. 1: Gulder silver nanoparticles
Fig. 2: Star silver nanoparticles
Fig. 3: 33 lager silver nanoparticles
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31
Fig. 4: Smirnorf-ice silver nanoparticles
Fig. 5: Harp silver nanoparticles
Fig. 6: Legend silver nanoparticles
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Fig. 7: Guinness silver nanoparticles
Fig. 8: Heineken silver nanoparticles
Fig. 9: Williams silver nanoparticles
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Fig. 10: Goldberg silver nanoparticles
Fig. 11: TEM micrograph of the silver nanoparticles synthesized from star
4. Conclusion
The study has actually given us insight into the use of some alcoholic beverages for the
reduction of silver ions to stable nanoparticles. Though the alcoholic beverages used were locally
sourced from the Nigerian market, it is also worthy of note that, other alcoholic beverages from other
Int. J. Nano & Matl. Sci. 2013, 2(1): 25-35
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34
countries and model solutions of primary synthetic nature can therefore be used to effect the same
nanosizing. The ten samples used in this paper gave absorption maxima within the expected values
(400-450 nm). The ability of these drinks to reduce silver could be attributed to their alcoholic content,
sugar content, flavors and other chemical constituents. This synthesis is stress-free and affordable and
could replace most of the time consuming and high-cost methods of synthesizing nanoparticles.
Acknowledgement
The authors wish to appreciate the University management especially the Vice chancellor;
Professor Braide Ekanem, Dean Faculty of Science; Professor M. Ogbe, the entire staff of Chemistry
department and the whole university community for their contributions towards the success of this
research.
Authors’ Contributions
Adesuji Elijah Temitope designed the study and the protocol while Elemike Elias Emeka
designed the experimentation. Labulo Ayomide Hassan managed the analysis of the study and Chuku
Aleruchi worked on the first draft. Oseghale Charles Ojiefor, Owoseni Mojisola Christiana and Mfon
Rebbeca managed the literature searches. Dare Olugbenga Enock supervised and gave technical advise
and support. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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