Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Using Sideritis montana L. Leaf Extract: Characterization, Catalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue and Antioxidant Activity

Nanotechnology is arising as a fast-developing research discipline with many usages areas. The silver nanoparticles synthesis (sm-AgNPs) is accomplished by reduction of silver ions in treatment with aqueous extract of Sideritis montana L. leaves. The colour change from yellow to dark brown confirmed the structures. The spectroscopic studies revealed the desired structure. In the UV-Vis spectrum, the maximum absorption was observed at 480 nm. The diffraction peaks (2θ) at the degrees of 38.14°, 44.29°, 64.48°, and 77.38° can correspond to 111, 200, 220, and 311 facets that indicates the nanostructure to be a face-centered cubic unit structure. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) analyses indicated that the synthesized nanoparticles were spherical with an average particle size of 36.42 nm. The zeta potential of sm-AgNPs was found as -35.2 mV which indicated the repulsion among nanoparticles and their stability. The peaks from Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) were associated with the phenols, flavonoids, terpenoids, and alkaloids, indicating that the corresponding compounds might act as reducing agents. The photocatalytic effect of sm-AgNPs was examined by degradation of methylene blue and sm-AgNPs were able to degrade the dye by about 67% at 96 h.