Rapid Biosynthesis Of Platinum And Palladium Metal Nanoparticles Using Root Extract Of Asparagus Racemosus Linn.

The fabrication of metal nanoparticles is undergoing the revolutionary changes due to their widespread applications in the areas like selective and specific catalysis such as hydrogenation, optoelectronics, semiconductor, sensing and diagnosis. Biologically, the metal nanoparticles are produced using fungi, yeasts, bacteria, algae and plant biomass. The metal nanoparticles synthesized using biological methods include mainly silver and gold. The synthesis of metals like platinum and palladium is still unexplored. In this context we have synthesized Platinum and palladium metal nanoparticles using root extract of Asparagus racemosus Linn. at room temperature. The synthesized metals were characterized using UV-visible spectroscopy, Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) techniques. UV-Visible study revealed that in both cases nanoparticles are produced within 5 min. TEM study shows that metal nanoparticles formed are crystalline in nature and spherical in shape. It also shows that Pt and Pd nanoparticles are nearly monodispersed and having a particle size ranging between 1 to 6nm. CV of the metal nanoparticles shows reversible redox behavior. The method reported for the synthesis of metal nanoparitcles is clean, rapid and ecofriendly. Copyright © 2013 VBRI press.