Green Synthesis of Nanoparticles using Microwave Irradiation
Nanotechnology is a modern scientific technique which is being used in many important applications in variety of fields like medicine, electronics, space, in solar cells & batteries as well as for air & water purification etc. In last one decade or so some metal nanoparticles are quite extensively studied by researchers because of their unique sizes and properties including electronics, magnetic, optical and thermal properties which are not observed in macromolecules. Recently, synthesis of various types of metal nanomaterials are reported in the scientific literature. Silver and gold nanoparticles are being synthesized by using microwave irradiations. Since many physical and chemical methods used in the synthesis of nanoparticles are having potential environmental and biological risks, therefore biological process using microwave irradiations is considered more eco-friendly and safe in the synthesis of nanoparticles as shown is figure 1.
Figure 1: Advantages of microwave (MW) assisted synthesis of nanoparticles
Moreover, microwave irradiations offer improvement in rate of reaction as well as better efficiency when compared to conventional methods. Silver nanoparticles are popularly synthesized using microwave irradiations because they have several significant applications like they are used as catalysts, in optics, as antimicrobial agents and in sensors. Microwave synthesis of nanoparticles is regarded as green synthesis as it is environment friendly technique and is cost effective also. And since it is cost effective there is tremendous scope for a large scale production of nanoparticles for many commercial applications. A few other advantages of microwave assisted green synthesis of nanoparticles as reported by many researchers are :-
- Microwave is very efficient source of heating
- Takes very short reaction time to complete the synthesis as compared to conventional methods
- Can be carried out in water, organic solvent or in solvent free environment
- Reactions can also be carried out in solid phase
- Gives more product yield as compared to conventional methods
Because of all these advantages as discussed in this article, this technique of microwave irradiation is quite popularly used in the synthesis of nanoparticles today for many commercial applications.
By: Dr. Arun Lal Srivastav, Assistant Professor, Department of Applied Sciences,
Chitkara University, Himachal Pradesh
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