Green synthesis, characterisation and biological studies of silver nanoparticles using Dalbergia sissoides seeds and ecofriendly reduction of 4-nitrophenol

Green synthesis of Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) has been of great interest because of its potential nanomedical applications. In this study, Dalbergia sissoides seeds (DSS) served as a reducing as well as a stabilising agent simultaneously thereby necessitating no additional reagent or further treatment. Appearance of surface plasmon band at 432 nm within 35 sec of microwave irradiation indicated the formation of DSS-silver nanoparticles. TEM analysis showed the DSS-AgNPs to be almost spherical in shape with a size of 18 ± 2 nm. When evaluated for their in vitro antioxidant activity, the nanoparticles showed considerably better activity when compared to that of the standard and the plant extract. Evaluation of anti-inflammatory activity of DSS-AgNPs by in-vitro method at a concentration of 10 µg/ml showed considerably better activity (94.05%), when compared to that of the plant extract (85.45%). The synthesised silver nanoparticles were also found to be effective in catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) into 4-aminophenol (4-AP).