A method for the preparation of silver nanoparticles using commercially available carboxymethyl chitosan and sunlight

In this paper, a novel and useful method based on photolysis of silver chloride is presented for the preparation of silver nanoparticles. Silver nanoparticles can be prepared by using silver nitrate and commercially available carboxymethyl chitosan under solar irradiation. This method is based on the photolysis of silver chloride. The stabilizing effect of carboxymethyl chitosan allows for the stable storage of these silver nanoparticles in the reaction mixture for more than six months; further, nanoparticles of different sizes can be separated from each other just by centrifugation. The favorable properties of carboxymethyl chitosan facilitate the use of these nanoparticles without further purification.