Controlled synthesis and characterization of hollow flower-like silver nanostructures

BACKGROUND The synthesis of anisotropic silver nanoparticles is a time-consuming process and involves the use of expensive toxic chemicals and specialized laboratory equipment. The presence of toxic chemicals in the prepared anisotropic silver nanostructures hindered their medical application. The authors have developed a fast and inexpensive method for the synthesis of three-dimensional hollow flower-like silver nanostructures without the use of toxic chemicals. METHODS In this method, silver nitrate was reduced using dextrose in presence of trisodium citrate as a capping agent. Sodium hydroxide was added to enhance reduction efficacy of dextrose and reduce time of synthesis. The effects of all four agents on the shape and size of silver nanostructures were investigated. RESULTS Robust hollow flower-like silver nanostructures were successfully synthesized and ranged in size from 0.2 μm to 5.0 μm with surface area between 25-240 m(2)/g. Changing the concentration of silver nitrate, dextrose, sodium hydroxide, and trisodium citrate affected the size and shape of the synthesized structures, while changing temperature had no effect. CONCLUSION The proposed method is simple, safe, and allows controlled synthesis of anisotropic silver nanostructures, which may represent promising tools as effective antimicrobial agents and for in vitro diagnostics. The synthesized hollow nanostructures may be used for enhanced drug encapsulation and sustained release.