Extracellular synthesis of silver nanoparticles using living peanut seedling

Synthesis of nanoparticles by environment friendly method is an important aspect of nanotechnology. In the present study, extracellular reduction of silver ions to silver nanoparticles was carried out using living peanut plant. The electron microscopic analysis shows that the formed nanoparticles were of different shapes and sizes. The formed nanoparticles were polydispersed. The shapes of the nanoparticles were spherical, square, triangle, hexagonal and rod. Most of the particles were spherical and 56 nm in size. EDS analysis confirmed the formed nanoparticles were of silver. The crystalline nature of nanoparticles was confirmed by diffraction. This method opens up an exciting possibility of plant-based synthesis of other inorganic nanomaterials. This study confirms the synthesis of extracellular silver nanoparticles by living plant.