Abstract
Nanoparticles are solid particles with a size range between 1-100 nm, with a wide range of applications, ranging from the field of electronics to medicine. In recent times, the synthesis of nanoparticles has drawn the attention of most researchers, and different methods, ranging from physical and chemical to biological are been reported, out of which the biological mediated synthesis is considered a green chemistry approach that connects nanotechnology and biotechnology. In this study, copper nanoparticles which find a wide range of applications in diverse fields were synthesized by adopting the green chemistry approach using an aqueous extract of Mangifera indica leaves.
The synthesized copper nanoparticles were characterized using UV-visible absorption spectroscopy and FTIR Spectroscopy. The UV-visible spectrum for the synthesized copper nanoparticles was obtained at 326nm. While the FTIR results were obtained at different frequency bands for the synthesized copper nanoparticles and the leaf extract, by comparing the FTIR spectra of the copper nanoparticles and the extract, it was inferred that the plants’ phytochemicals such as tannin, saponins, alkaloids and cardiac glycosides present in the aqueous solution of the extract are responsible for the synthesis, capping and stabilization of the copper nanoparticles.