Preparation of Gold Nanoparticles Using Tea: A Green Chemistry Experiment

Assimilating green chemistry principles in nanotechnology is a developing area of nanoscience research nowadays. Thus, there is a growing demand to develop environmentally friendly and sustainable methods for the synthesis of nanoparticles that utilize nontoxic chemicals, environmentally benign solvents, and renewable materials to avoid their adverse effects. A simple, economic, and environmentally benign experimental route to synthesize gold nanoparticles using tea leaves in an aqueous media at room temperature is described with a goal to introduce chemistry students to the concept of green chemistry as well as nanotechnology. The single-step method circumvents the use of surfactant, capping agent, or template and follows several principles of green chemistry. The experiment can be conducted in a typical laboratory session and is suitable for incorporation into the undergraduate introductory chemistry laboratory curriculum and constitutes an influential example of green chemistry in action.