Biogenic synthesis and characterization of gold nanoparticles by Escherichia coli K12 and its heterogeneous catalysis in degradation of 4-nitrophenol.

ABSTRACT: Room-temperature extracellular biosynthesis of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) was achieved using Escherichia coli K12 cells without the addition of growth media, pH adjustments or inclusion of electron donors/stabilizing agents. The resulting nanoparticles were analysed by ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectrophotometry, atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Highly dispersed gold nanoplates were achieved in the order of around 50 nm. Further, the underlying mechanism was found to be controlled by certain extracellular membrane-bound proteins, which was confirmed by Fourier transformation-infrared spectroscopy and sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. We observed that certain membrane-bound peptides are responsible for reduction an

SUBMITTER: Srivastava SK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3599219 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature