Green synthesis of gold nanoparticles using a glucan of an edible mushroom and study of catalytic activity

Gold nanoparticles were synthesized by reducing chloroauric acid with a glucan, isolated from an edible mushroom Pleurotus florida, cultivar Assam Florida. Here, glucan acts as reducing as well as stabilizing agent. The synthesized gold nanoparticles were characterized by UV–visible spectroscopy, HR-TEM, XRD, SEM, and FT-IR analysis. The results indicated that the size distribution of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) changed with the change in concentration of chloroauric acid (HAuCl4). The resulting Au NPs-glucan bioconjugates function as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst in the reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP), in the presence of sodium borohydride. The reduction of 4-nitrophenol with Au NPs-glucan bioconjugates followed pseudo-first-order kinetics. The effect of particle size and gold loading on reduction rate of 4-NP was studied with Au NPs-glucan bioconjugates prepared with different concentrations of HAuCl4. The synthesis of catalytically active Au NPs using a pure mushroom polysaccharide of known structure is reported for the first time.