Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using Hibiscus sabdariffa leaf extract and its cytotoxicity assay

Abstract

Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) from Hibiscus sabdariffa (HS) and cytotoxicity was performed. The characteristic UV-Vis. absorption maximum of the material was found at 426 nm. Energy dispersive X-ray analysis ensures the presence of elemental silver. The X-ray diffraction confirms the formation of a face-centered cubic crystal lattice of silver. The transmission electron microscopy along with XRD revealed the nano-dimension of the material (∼24 nm). The Fourier transform infrared analysis depicted the secondary structure of proteins and amino acids in the leaf extract as responsible factors for the reduction of Ag⁺ to form biomolecules encapsulated stable AgNPs. The results of the cell viability study showed that HSAgNPs didn’t bring out any cytotoxicity in PC12 cells until 10 ppm for 48 h of incubation of the nanoparticles, which was further confirmed by the lactate dehydrogenase assay. Thereby, this study may encourage the low-cost production of green-AgNPs and their safe usages.

Keywords:

• Green approach
• plant material
• spectroscopic techniques
• surface morphology
• cell viability
• cytotoxicity

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the laboratory supervisor of the Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University, Japan. A special thanks to Dr. Mahmuda Akter, post-doctoral researcher, Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University for preparing the working solution of nanoparticles during the cytotoxicity assay. Also, we thank the staff of the laboratories in Jahangirnagar University, BCSIR, and Dhaka Atomic Energy Center for their cordial support in performing the experiments.

Conflict of interests

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.