Eco-Friendly Synthesis and Characterization of Silver and Zinc Nanoparticles Using Aqueous Extract from the Bark of <i>Antiaris toxicaria</i>

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and zinc nanoparticles (ZnNPs) were synthesized by a cheap, rapid, and eco-friendly method using aqueous bark extract of Antiaris toxicaria as both the reducing and capping agents. The synthesized AgNPs and ZnNPs were characterized using a UV-visible spectroscopy, Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The metal ions (M+ ) were rapidly reduced from M+ to M0 by the aqueous bark extract of Antiaris toxicaria, forming AgNPs and ZnNPs with sizes ranging between 1- 100 nm. The diffraction peaks were indexed to the facecentered cubic (fcc) phase of silver and zinc, indicating that the synthesized AgNPs and ZnNPs were crystalline in nature. Absorption spectra of AgNPs and ZnNPs showed a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peak around a wavelength of 423 nm and 306 nm respectively. The FTIR spectra revealed distinct peaks at 3295.38 cm1 attributed to the OHgroup which may be responsible for the reduction of M+ to M0 and subsequent formation of metal MNPs, 2104.38 cm-1 corresponding to asymmetric stretching vibrations of methylene (CH2) group in AgNPs, and a sharp peak at 1634.80 cm-1 corresponding to a carbonyl (C=O) group.