Date on Senior Honors Thesis

3-2023

Document Type

Senior Honors Thesis

Degree Name

B.S.

Cooperating University

University of Louisville

Department

Chemistry

Degree Program

School of Public Health and Information Sciences

Author's Keywords

nanoparticles; dispersity; nanotechnology; synthesis; kudzu

Abstract

Kudzu is an invasive species in the Southeastern United States. Due to the abundance of its presence and the harm it causes to ecosystems, there has been interest in repurposing the species. Since many plants have medicinal and pharmaceutical uses, the use of kudzu in nanomaterials and bioanalytical chemistry may offer a way to repurpose the invasive species for applications in health science. Potential benefits include relief for the ecosystem from which kudzu is removed and societal benefits from environmentally friendly and sustainable reducing agents required in the synthesis of nanomaterials. The prospective use of kudzu as a non-toxic alternative to trisodium citrate as a reducing agent for silver nanoparticle (AgNP) synthesis was explored. Kudzu extracts using water and ethanol as solvents were used in place of trisodium citrate. Chlorophyll standards using the same solvents were made as a control for the influence of chlorophyll on the reaction system. Standard silver NP synthesis steps were followed; silver nitrate, water, and kudzu or chlorophyll extract were boiled together until a color change was evident. Silver NPs were found to form using this one-pot synthesis method. The size and dispersity was determined to be influenced by the solvent used in the kudzu and chlorophyll extracts; AgNPs reduced with ethanol-based extract were found to be small and monodisperse while the water-based extract reduced AgNPs were larger with more size variance. The extracts are undergoing further characterization to determine the functional group(s) in the kudzu responsible for reducing silver ions to silver metal.

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