Synthesis of silver nanowires in a two‐phase system for biological applications

The ability to design nanowires (NW) in powder technology provides a great advantage for many applications in a variety of fields ranging from medicine to materials science. In this study, nanoparticles were synthesized simultaneously by using an aqueous two‐phase system, which was an environmentally friendly method since the reducing agent that was not spent in the reaction could be effectively recycled and reused. AgNWs (silver nanowires) with numerous high widths and dyes were easily synthesized between two phases using the 5,8‐dibromo‐2‐(butylamino)naphthalene‐1,4‐dione, a 2‐substituted naphthoquinone. Naphthoquinones are known as reducing agents in the production of metal nanoparticles. Synthesized NWs have an average diameter of 90 nm and an average length of 6 μm. The nanowires produced had a round cross section. Characterization of nanowires and nanoparticles was done with UV‐vis, XRD pattern, SEM, and EDX. As a result of characterization, it showed two relatively sharp absorbances in the UV‐vis spectrum at a wavelength of ~358 and 432 nm. In the XRD analysis, five basic peaks attributed to Ag nanoparticles were observed. When SEM images were analyzed, it was determined that Ag nanowires generally have an average diameter of 90 nm and an average length of 6 μm. Anticancer activity test was performed using the MTT test in the HeLa and HT‐29 cell lines. IC 50 value was calculated as 11.54 and 16.07 μg ml, and AgNWs showed anticancer properties at high concentration. Evaluating the influence of AgNWs for the first time, this study has indicated that AgNWs exhibit inhibitory properties on the collagenase enzyme. It was observed that the IC 50 rate for the enzyme activity was 346.5 mM ( r 2 : 0.955), and Ki value was 41.09 mM.