Abstract
Hierarchical self-assembly nanostructures have an important interest in nanoscience and nanotechnology. This research reports a facile method for self-assembly of silver spheres using the Hamelia patens plant extract as a reducing agent. Furthermore, the degradation of organic dyes assesses the catalytic properties of Ag nanostructures. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV–Vis, and Fourier transform infrared techniques characterized the Ag spheres’ morphology and structure. SEM and TEM images revealed porous Ag assemblies with spherical morphologies of an average size of ~2 µm integrated by 20 nm thick petals. Also, more compact Ag spheres with an average size of around 3 µm, containing nanorods of around 100 nm on their surface, were obtained. Energy dispersive spectrometer and XRD techniques determined the chemical composition and crystal structure of the spheres. UV–Vis spectra show bands ranging from 400 to 500 nm, confirming quantum confinement in the material. Silver spheres with petals showed the best degradation performance of organic dyes such as methylene blue, methyl orange, and rhodamine B.
Highlights
-
Ecological synthesis for the self-assembly of silver spheres.
-
Analytical techniques revealed spherical morphologies assembled by both nanosheets and nanorods.
-
The spheres assembled by nanosheets have a porous structure, while assembled by nanorods are compact.
-
Porous silver spheres show excellent catalytic activity in the degradation of organic dyes.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
All data analyzed during this study are included in the article.
References
Bisoyi HK, Kumar S (2011) Liquid-crystal nanoscience: an emerging avenue of soft self-assembly. Chem Soc Rev 40(1):306–319
Schwarz JA, Contescu CI, Putyera K (2004) Dekker encyclopedia of nanoscience and nanotechnology, vol 5. CRC press, New York
Sudha PN, Sangeetha K, Vijayalakshmi K, Barhoum A (2018) Nanomaterials history, classification, unique properties, production and market. In: Emerging applications of nanoparticles and architecture nanostructures. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 341–384
Cao G (2004) Nanostructures and nanomaterials: synthesis, properties and applications. World scientific, Singapore
Parak WJ, Manna L, Nann T (2010) Fundamental principles of quantum dots. Nanotechnology 1:73–96
García M, Aloisio C, Onnainty R, Ullio-Gamboa G (2018) Self-assembled nanomaterials. In: Nanobiomaterials. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 41–94
Pokropivny V, Skorokhod V (2007) Classification of nanostructures by dimensionality and concept of surface forms engineering in nanomaterial science. Mater Sci Eng C 27(5–8):990–993
Leite ER (2004) Nanocrystals assembled from the bottom up. In: Encyclopedia of nanoscience and nanotechnology. Stevenson Ranch, CA, pp 537–554
Percebom AM, Towesend VJ, de Andrade MdPS, Gramatges AP (2018) Sustainable self-assembly strategies for emerging nanomaterials. Curr Opin Green Sustain Chem 12:8–14
Fang Y, Phillips BM, Askar K, Choi B, Jiang P, Jiang B (2013) Scalable bottom-up fabrication of colloidal photonic crystals and periodic plasmonic nanostructures. J Mater Chem C 1(38):6031–6047
Pucci A, Willinger M-G, Liu F, Zeng X, Rebuttini V, Clavel G, Bai X, Ungar G, Pinna N (2012) One-step synthesis and self-assembly of metal oxide nanoparticles into 3D superlattices. ACS Nano 6(5):4382–4391. https://doi.org/10.1021/nn3010735
Jiang X, Yu A (2010) One-step approach for the synthesis and self-assembly of silver nanoparticles. J Nanosci Nanotechnol 10(11):7643–7647
Garrett TM, Koert U, Lehn J-M, Rigault A, Meyer D, Fischer J (1990) Self-assembly of silver (I) helicates. J Chem Soc, Chem Commun 7(7):557–558
Suchanuch S, Rhushabh M, Sam D, Scott D, Zhaoxia Z, Mark P (2019) Droplet factories: synthesis and assembly of silver and palladium nanoparticles at the liquid-liquid interface. https://doi.org/10.26434/chemrxiv.10288556.v1
Ouhenia-Ouadahi K, Andrieux-Ledier A, Richardi J, Albouy P-A, Beaunier P, Sutter P, Sutter E, Courty A (2016) Tuning the growth mode of 3D silver nanocrystal superlattices by triphenylphosphine. Chem Mater 28(12):4380–4389. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.6b01374
Wei W, Bai F, Fan H (2019) Surfactant-assisted cooperative self-assembly of nanoparticles into active nanostructures. iScience 11:272–293. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2018.12.025
Fulong CRP, Kim S, Friedman AE, Cook TR (2019) Coordination-driven self-assembly of silver(I) and gold(I) rings: synthesis, characterization, and photophysical studies. Front Chem 7(567). https://doi.org/10.3389/fchem.2019.00567
Serrano-Montes AB, Jimenez de Aberasturi D, Langer J, Giner-Casares JJ, Scarabelli L, Herrero A, Liz-Marzán LM (2015) A general method for solvent exchange of plasmonic nanoparticles and self-assembly into SERS-active monolayers. Langmuir 31(33):9205–9213. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.5b01838
Li Y, Duan W, Lu X, Yang S, Wen X (2019) Synthesis of strawberry-like Fe3O4@SiO2@Ag composite colloidal particles for constructing responsive photonic crystals. Optical Mater 94:423–429. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.optmat.2019.06.002
Moghimi-Rad J, Isfahani TD, Hadi I, Ghalamdaran S, Sabbaghzadeh J, Sharif M (2011) Shape-controlled synthesis of silver particles by surfactant self-assembly under ultrasound radiation. Appl Nanosci 1(1):27–35. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13204-011-0004-5
Sajanlal PR, Sreeprasad TS, Samal AK, Pradeep T (2011) Anisotropic nanomaterials: structure, growth, assembly, and functions. Nano Rev 2:10.3402/nano.v2i0.5883. https://doi.org/10.3402/nano.v2i0.5883
Garcia AM, Iglesias D, Parisi E, Styan KE, Waddington LJ, Deganutti C, De Zorzi R, Grassi M, Melchionna M, Vargiu AV (2018) Chirality effects on peptide self-assembly unraveled from molecules to materials. Chem 4(8):1862–1876
Sun H, Luo Q, Hou C, Liu J (2017) Nanostructures based on protein self-assembly: from hierarchical construction to bioinspired materials. Nano Today 14:16–41
Clerici F, Erba E, Gelmi ML, Pellegrino S (2016) Non-standard amino acids and peptides: from self-assembly to nanomaterials. Tetrahedron Lett 57(50):5540–5550
Suvith V, Philip D (2014) Catalytic degradation of methylene blue using biosynthesized gold and silver nanoparticles. Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc 118:526–532
Khan MA, Khan T, Nadhman A (2016) Applications of plant terpenoids in the synthesis of colloidal silver nanoparticles. Adv Colloid Interface Sci 234:132–141
Bar H, Bhui DK, Sahoo GP, Sarkar P, De SP, Misra A (2009) Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using latex of Jatropha curcas. Colloids Surf A Physicochem Eng Asp 339(1–3):134–139
Rao KJ, Paria S (2013) Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles from aqueous Aegle marmelos leaf extract. Mater Res Bull 48(2):628–634
Chandra H, Kumari P, Bontempi E, Yadav S (2020) Medicinal plants: treasure trove for green synthesis of metallic nanoparticles and their biomedical applications. Biocatal Agric Biotechnol 24:101518
Agharkar M, Kochrekar S, Hidouri S, Azeez MA (2014) Trends in green reduction of graphene oxides, issues and challenges: a review. Mater Res Bull 59:323–328
Akhtar MS, Panwar J, Yun Y-S (2013) Biogenic synthesis of metallic nanoparticles by plant extracts. ACS Sustain Chem Eng 1(6):591–602
Rajeshkumar S, Bharath L (2017) Mechanism of plant-mediated synthesis of silver nanoparticles–a review on biomolecules involved, characterisation and antibacterial activity. Chem Biol Interact 273:219–227
Joshi N, Jain N, Pathak A, Singh J, Prasad R, Upadhyaya CP (2018) Biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles using Carissa carandas berries and its potential antibacterial activities. J Sol Gel Sci Technol 86(3):682–689. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-018-4666-2
Kohsari I, Mohammad-Zadeh M, Minaeian S, Rezaee M, Barzegari A, Shariatinia Z, Koudehi MF, Mirsadeghi S, Pourmortazavi SM (2019) In vitro antibacterial property assessment of silver nanoparticles synthesized by Falcaria vulgaris aqueous extract against MDR bacteria. J Sol Gel Sci Technol 90(2):380–389. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-019-04961-0
Li S, Shen Y, Xie A, Yu X, Qiu L, Zhang L, Zhang Q (2007) Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using Capsicum annuum L. extract. Green Chem 9(8):852–858. https://doi.org/10.1039/B615357G
Okitsu K, Mizukoshi Y (2016) Catalytic applications of noble metal nanoparticles produced by sonochemical reduction of noble metal ions. In: Handbook of Ultrasonics and Sonochemistry. Springer Singapore, Singapore, pp 325–363. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-278-4_13
Jiang Z-J, Liu C-Y, Sun L-W (2005) Catalytic properties of silver nanoparticles supported on silica spheres. J Phys Chem B 109(5):1730–1735. https://doi.org/10.1021/jp046032g
Vidhu VK, Philip D (2014) Spectroscopic, microscopic and catalytic properties of silver nanoparticles synthesized using Saraca indica flower. Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc 117:102–108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.saa.2013.08.015
Ahmad A, Mohd-Setapar SH, Chuong CS, Khatoon A, Wani WA, Kumar R, Rafatullah M (2015) Recent advances in new generation dye removal technologies: novel search for approaches to reprocess wastewater. RSC Adv 5(39):30801–30818
Bag BG, Dash SS (2015) Hierarchical self-assembly of a renewable nanosized pentacyclic dihydroxy-triterpenoid betulin yielding flower-like architectures. Langmuir 31(51):13664–13672. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.5b03730
Cheng S, Oatley DL, Williams PM, Wright CJ (2012) Characterisation and application of a novel positively charged nanofiltration membrane for the treatment of textile industry wastewaters. Water Res 46(1):33–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2011.10.011
Haque E, Jun JW, Jhung SH (2011) Adsorptive removal of methyl orange and methylene blue from aqueous solution with a metal-organic framework material, iron terephthalate (MOF-235). J Hazard Mater 185(1):507–511. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2010.09.035
Jain R, Mathur M, Sikarwar S, Mittal A (2007) Removal of the hazardous dye rhodamine B through photocatalytic and adsorption treatments. J Environ Manag 85(4):956–964. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2006.11.002
Ji L, Liu X, Xu T, Gong M, Zhou S (2020) Preparation and photocatalytic properties of carbon/carbon-doped TiO2 double-layer hollow microspheres. J Sol Gel Sci Technol 93(2):380–390. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-019-05176-z
Jia J, Wang Y, Xu M, Qi M-l, Wu Y, Zhao G (2020) MOF-derived the direct Z-scheme g-C3N4/TiO2 with enhanced visible photocatalytic activity. J Sol Gel Sci Technol 93(1):123–130. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-019-05172-3
da Silva RA, Jacinto MJ, Silva VC, Cabana DC (2018) Urea-assisted fabrication of Fe3O4@ZnO@Au composites for the catalytic photodegradation of Rhodamine-B. J Sol Gel Sci Technol 86(1):94–103. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-018-4607-0
Sutanto N, Saharudin KA, Sreekantan S, Kumaravel V, Md Akil H (2020) Heterojunction catalysts g-C3N4/-3ZnO-c-Zn2Ti3O8 with highly enhanced visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity. J Sol Gel Sci Technol 93(2):354–370. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-019-05101-4
Kang L, Xu P, Chen D, Zhang B, Du Y, Han X, Li Q, Wang H-L (2013) Amino acid-assisted synthesis of hierarchical silver microspheres for single particle surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. J Phys Chem C 117(19):10007–10012
Yang D-P, Chen S, Huang P, Wang X, Jiang W, Pandoli O, Cui D (2010) Bacteria-template synthesized silver microspheres with hollow and porous structures as excellent SERS substrate. Green Chem 12(11):2038–2042
Hong L, Li Q, Lin H, Li Y (2009) Synthesis of flower-like silver nanoarchitectures at room temperature. Mater Res Bull 44(6):1201–1204
Li X, Li M, Cui P, Zhao X, Gu T, Yu H, Jiang Y, Song D (2014) Electrodeposition of Ag nanosheet-assembled microsphere@ Ag dendrite core–shell hierarchical architectures and their application in SERS. CrystEngComm 16(19):3834–3838
Liu C, Xu X, Hu W, Yang X, Zhou P, Qiu G, Ye W, Li Y, Jiang C (2018) Synthesis of clean cabbagelike (111) faceted silver crystals for efficient surface-enhanced raman scattering sensing of papaverine. Anal Chem 90(16):9805–9812. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.8b01735
Smitha S, Nissamudeen K, Philip D, Gopchandran K (2008) Studies on surface plasmon resonance and photoluminescence of silver nanoparticles. Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc 71(1):186–190
Xia T, Zhang Y, Murowchick J, Chen X (2014) Vacuum-treated titanium dioxide nanocrystals: optical properties, surface disorder, oxygen vacancy, and photocatalytic activities. Catal Today 225:2–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cattod.2013.08.026
Zhou M, Hou Z, Chen X (2018) The effects of hydrogenation on graphitic C3N4 nanosheets for enhanced photocatalytic activity. Part Part Syst Charact 35(1):1700038. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppsc.201700038
Sherin L, Sohail A, Amjad U-e-S, Mustafa M, Jabeen R, Ul-Hamid A (2020) Facile green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using Terminalia bellerica kernel extract for catalytic reduction of anthropogenic water pollutants. Colloid Interface Sci Commun 37:100276. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colcom.2020.100276
Fang L, Zhang X, Xiang J, Zhao M, Zheng B, Bai L (2020) Solvent polarity resulted in different structures and photocatalytic abilities of Ag/ZnO composites. J Sol Gel Sci Technol 93(3):695–702. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-019-05181-2
Hu M, Yan X, Hu X, Feng R, Zhou M (2019) Synthesis of silver decorated silica nanoparticles with rough surfaces as adsorbent and catalyst for methylene blue removal. J Sol Gel Sci Technol 89(3):754–763. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-018-4871-z
Capeli RA, Belmonte T, Caierão J et al (2020) Effect of hydrothermal temperature on the antibacterial and photocatalytic activity of WO3 decorated with silver nanoparticles. J Sol Gel Sci Technol. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-020-05433-6
Ahmed J, Alhokbany N, Husain A, Ahmad T, Khan MAM, Alshehri SM (2020) Synthesis, characterization, and significant photochemical performances of delafossite AgFeO2 nanoparticles. J Sol Gel Sci Technol 94(2):493–503. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-020-05274-3
Gorgani M, Kaleji BK (2020) Structural, photocatalytic and surface analysis of Nb/Ag codoped TiO2 mesoporous nanoparticles. J Sol Gel Sci Technol 96(3):728–741. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-020-05403-y
Marimuthu S, Antonisamy AJ, Malayandi S, Rajendran K, Tsai P-C, Pugazhendhi A, Ponnusamy VK (2020) Silver nanoparticles in dye effluent treatment: a review on synthesis, treatment methods, mechanisms, photocatalytic degradation, toxic effects and mitigation of toxicity. J Photochem Photobiol B Biol 205:111823
Chen Q, Wu Q (2015) Preparation of carbon microspheres decorated with silver nanoparticles and their ability to remove dyes from aqueous solution. J Hazard Mater 283:193–201
Acknowledgements
KC is pleased to acknowledge the financial support by Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All authors contributed to the study conception and design. KC performed the methodology, analysis, and investigation. GR checked the supervision, writing, review, and editing. All authors read and approved the final paper.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chávez, K., Rosas, G. Facile synthesis of self-assembling silver spheres and evaluation of their catalytic properties in organic dyes degradation. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 97, 320–328 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-020-05463-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-020-05463-0