Green synthesis and characterization of reduced silver nanoparticles with ulvan extracted from Ulva lactuca L.

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been studied because of their excellent antimicrobial properties, although their applications have been limited due to toxicity and the need to employ chemical reagents for synthesis [1]. The objective of this work was to synthesize and characterize AgNPs using ulvan, a sulfated polysaccharide extracted from the alga Ulva lactuca L. as reducing and stabilizing agent with remarkable potential for biotechnological development. AgNPs were characterized by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and light scattering techniques. The results obtained for determination of diameter, polydispersity index and zeta potential suggest that the obtained AgNPs are polydispersed. Analysis of (FTIR) and thermograms (DSC) suggests that AgNPs have greater thermodynamic stability when compared to AgNPs obtained by chemical synthesis. AgNPs obtained by green synthesis have the potential to be used in biomedical applications.