Green synthesis and characterization of silver/silver oxide nanoparticles using aqueous leaves extract of artemisia herba-alba as reducing and capping agents

Artemisia herba-alba is a medicinal plant, and its essential oil is used as an antiseptic and antispasmodic. In this study, green synthesis of silver/silver oxide (Ag/Ag₂O) nanoparticles was successfully synthesized from Artemisia Herba-Alba aqueous leaves extract. The effect of temperature, reaction time, the concentration of AgNO₃, the quantity of plant extract, and pH on the synthesis process of Ag/Ag₂O was optimized. More interesting, the results showed that only 5 min were required for reducing 1 mM AgNO₃ into Ag/Ag₂O NPs at room temperature. The crystalline nature of Ag/Ag₂O NPs with an average crystallize size of 10.7-36.8 nm. The green synthesizing Ag/Ag₂O NPs having in general a spherical morphology with particle/aggregate size less than 100 nm. The maximum UV-Vis absorption peak of Ag/Ag₂O NPs was observed at the range of 418-435 nm giving optical band gaps of 2.05-2.30 eV. The TGA/DTA analysis shows significant organic contents (18 wt%) were physically and chemically adsorbed on the dry weight Ag/Ag₂O NPs. Artemisia herba-alba is a source of phytochemicals for effective and prompt fabrication of Ag/Ag₂O NPs with relevant insecticidal and anti-bactericidal activity against species of high public health importance.