ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Facile room-temperature synthesis of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) coated spherical silver nanoparticles and their surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and antibacterial applications

Hania Feroz Mughal, Ghazanfar Ali Khan, Muhammad Shafiq, Muhammad Zeeshan Hyder, and Waqqar Ahmed

Materials Laboratory, Department of Physics, COMSATS University Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan

E-mail: w.ahmed@comsats.edu.pk

Received: 27 September 2023  Accepted: 14 February 2024

Abstract:

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are appealing due to their cost-effectiveness and remarkable capabilities in sensing and antibacterial applications. Herein, we report a facile near room-temperature synthesis of AgNPs capped with a cationic surfactant using a single-step recipe. The AgNPs were synthesized by reducing silver ions with ascorbic acid in a basic reaction medium, and in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). By varying the concentration of CTAB and the pH of the reaction medium, the yield of the AgNPs can be tuned. The essential experimental conditions supporting the high yield of uniform AgNPs are 10 mM concentration of CTAB and a strong basic pH. The impact of aging on AgNPs was also investigated by examining changes in their ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectra over time. The AgNPs, purified by centrifugation and redispersed in CTAB solution, showed reliable shelf-life under both light and dark storage conditions. Furthermore, the synthesized AgNPs showed excellent surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based trace detection toward anionic dye, methyl orange (MO). The AgNPs allowed detecting MO down to 10^–10 M. Finally, the AgNPs also exhibited good antibacterial activity against two gram-positive bacteria, namely Enterococcus spps. and Staphylococcus aureus.

Keywords: Silver nanoparticles; Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB); Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS); Antibacterial; Methyl orange; Enterococcus spps.; Staphylococcus aureus

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-024-03372-y

Chemical Papers 78 (6) 4019–4027 (2024)