Preparation of gold nanoparticles from Mirabilis jalapa flowers

Biosynthesis of gold nanoparticles has emerged as an important area in nanotechnology and biotechnology due to growing need to develop environmentally benign technologies. Generally, nanoparticles are prepared by a variety of chemical methods which are not environmentally friendly. In the present study, we report a rapid and convenient method to reductively prepare gold nanoparticles from auric chloride using aqueous extract of Mirabilis jalapa flowers. The flower extract acts as a reducing agent and encapsulating cage for the gold nanoparticles. The production of gold nanoparticles has been done by the controlled reduction of the Au3+ ion to Au0. The formation of gold nanoparticles has been established by FT-IR and UV-Vis spectroscopy, as well as by TEM, XRD, EDAX and AFM. The study suggests that M. jalapa flowers can be a cheap source as a reductant for the production of gold nanoparticles.