Green and Sustainable Synthesis of Metal Nanoparticles Using Orange Peel Pith

Abstract

Current trends in nanoparticle synthesis involve the implementation of green and sustainable methods, that avoid the use of hazardous and often toxic chemicals and solvents, and that can be done without high temperatures or pressures. This has led to bioreduction methods such as using a variety of plant and fruit extracts; there are many successful syntheses of metal nanoparticles in the literature that use extracts as mild and nontoxic reductive agents. The final products of such synthesis are metal nanoparticles in aqueous solution and capped with the same biomolecules that helped in the reduction of the metal ions. The use of a biomaterial, such as orange peel pith, that can function as both support and mild reducing agent is proposed as a green, sustainable and cheap alternative to obtain metal nanoparticles stabilized and supported in a biomaterial, which can be easily obtained since it’s considered a waste material. There is also the added benefit of having both a cellulosic material, which has been studied extensively as an adsorbent for treatment of waters contaminated with heavy metals, and metal nanoparticles that can further contribute to the remediation.