Gold-nanoparticle synthesization in Gum Arabic solution by pulsed laser ablation

Abstract

Green synthesis of nanoparticles is crucial to effectively reduce the risk to the environment by eradicating hazardous components that are harmful to human health. The broad complications such as aggregation and oxidation of nanoparticles will potentially limit their usage. Gum Arabic (GA) has attained decent attention due to less toxicity and bio-compatibility with metals. Gold-nanoparticles (Au-NPs) have several applications in diagnosing cancer, targeted delivery of drugs and in cancer treatment. This project is conducted by synthesizing Au-NPs in GA solution via pulsed laser ablation in liquid (PLAL) technique at varied laser fluences. A Q-switched Nd:YAG laser with wavelength of 1064 nm was focused using a lens with a focal length of 80 mm to ablate a gold plate immersed in GA solution. Four different laser fluences were tested. The laser fluences were 0.203, 0.214, 0.250 and 0.272 J. The Au-NPs synthesized in the GA solution were then characterized using photoluminescene (PL) and UV-Visible double beam spectrometer (UV-Vis). The highest laser fluence has shown the highest intensity while the wavelength of all peaks is the same indicating the same nanomaterials being synthesized in each sample. The UV-Vis spectra indicated that the absorbance increases as the holding time is prolonged. It is believed that the formation of Au-NPs is a nucleating process and followed by a growing process.