Green synthesis and applications of Au-Ag bimetallic nanoparticles

This paper reports for the first time the synthesis of bimetallic nanoparticles at room temperature using the fruit juice of pomegranate. Simultaneous reduction of gold and silver ions in different molar ratios leads to the formation of alloy as well as core-shell nanostructures. The nanoparticles have been characterized using UV-vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. The synthesized alloy particles are used as catalysts in the reduction of 2-, 3-, 4-nitrophenols to the corresponding amines and in the degradation of methyl orange. The reduction kinetics for all the reactions follows pseudo-first order. The rate constants follow the order k4-nitrophenol