Template based synthesis of gold nanotubes using biologically synthesized gold nanoparticles

Reliable experimental protocols using green technologies to synthesize metallic nanostructures widen their applications, both biological as well as biomedical. Here, we describe a method for synthesizing gold nanotubes using biologically synthesized gold nanoparticles in a template based approach. E. coli DH5α was used as bionanofactory to synthesize gold nanoparticles. These nanoparticles were then deposited on sodium sulfate (Na2SO4) nanowires which were employed as sacrificial template for gold nanotube (Au-NT) formation. The gold nanoparticles, sodium sulphate nanowires and gold nanotubes were appropriately characterized using transmission electron microscopy. The TEM results showed that the average diameter of gold nanotubes was 72 nm and length up to 4-7 μm. The method discussed herein is better than other reported conventional chemical synthesis approaches as it uses biologically synthesized gold nanoparticles, and does not employ any harsh conditions/solvents for template removal which makes it a clean and ecofriendly method.