Asian Scientist (Aug. 2, 2013) – Australian researchers have developed a ‘green’ method to create antibacterial gold nanoparticles with the help of common eucalyptus leaves.
Gold nanoparticles have been used in a variety of medical applications, for example, they can be passively accumulated in tumors for thermal treatment therapies, where they are heated to damage and kill cancer cells.
Other studies have shown that cancer drugs bonded to the surface of gold nanoparticles can effectively target tumors, by improving the efficacy of treatment and minimizing the side effects of the drugs.
“Gold nanoparticles have proven to be very versatile across a range of treatments, including in the delivery of double-stranded DNA in the emerging gene therapy area,” said Dr Gerrard Poinern, lead author of a paper published in Gold Bulletin that describes the new method of creating gold nanoparticles.
Until recently, the production of gold nanoparticles had involved expensive chemical and physical processes that often used toxic materials that are potentially hazardous.
“Thanks to the Eucalyptus macrocarpa, we’re changing that. Our method is water-based, performed at room temperature and without the need for complex equipment and is clean and non-toxic,” said Dr Poinern.
The ‘green’ production of gold nanometer scale particles involves dissolving high purity gold wire into a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acid to produce gold chloride. The gold chloride is then mixed with a water-based solution of leaf extracts from the common Eucalyptus macrocarpa and allowed to synthesize at room temperature.
“Not only does this result in the creation of nanometre scale gold prisms, but the wax of the eucalypt leaf extract provides an additional antibacterial and antifungal quality,” said Dr Poinern.
“Since bacterial and fungal species have the ability to develop immunity against commonly used antibiotics over time, our gold nanometre scale particles also stand to be a new tool against antibiotic resistant forms of microorganisms.”
Dr Poinern said the nanometer scale gold particles were tested as antibacterial agents against both E. coli and B. subtilis, producing zone inhibition of 19mm and 16mm respectively.
The article can be found at: Poinern (2013) Green Biosynthesis Of Gold Nanometre Scale Plates Using The Leaf Extracts From An Indigenous Australian Plant Eucalyptus Macrocarpa.
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Source: Murdoch University; Photo: Derrick Coetzee/Flickr.
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