ABSTRACT: This work describes a convenient and reliable laboratory
experiment in nanochemistry that is flexible and adaptable to a wide range
of educational settings. The rapid preparation of yellow colloidal silver
nanoparticles is achieved by glucose reduction of silver nitrate in the
presence of starch and sodium citrate in gently boiling water, using either a
hot plate or domestic microwave oven as the heat source. During the
experiment, the students are encouraged to consider the role that each
reagent plays in the synthesis. If desired, the experiment can be repeated
with the systematic elimination of individual reagents to more rigorously
investigate the importance of each in the optimized reaction conditions.
The benign reagents used in the preparation are commonly found in most
educational science storerooms. The optimized synthesis has proven to be
quite reliable in student hands and may also appeal as an alternative method to instructors who already include the preparation of
silver nanoparticles in their laboratory curriculum