Eucalyptus oil-mediated synthesis of gold nanoparticles

Abstract

The search for efficient methods for the synthesis of metal nanoparticles has been widely explored. Within this context, the use of biological materials such as plants, algae, bacteria and fungi has been reported to various metal nanoparticles as an efficient, low-cost and environmental friendly approach. In this paper we present a single-step method for synthesizing gold nanoparticles, by using essential oils from Brazilian Eucalyptus leaves (urograndis and dunnii). The results strongly suggest that the presence of a stronger bioreducing agent, α-Terpinyl acetate, in the Eucalyptus urograndis, results in higher antioxidant capacity and hence in the synthesis of gold nanoparticles with more controlled size distribution.