PHYTOSYNTHESIS OF GOLD NANOPARTICLES USING CAESALPINIA PULCHERRIMA (PEACOCK FLOWER) FLOWER EXTRACT AND EVALUATION OF THEIR ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITIES

Abstract

Caesalpinia pulcherrima (Linn) popularly known as Peacock flower in India belongs to family Caesalpiniace. In this work, we describe environment friendly technique for green synthesis of gold nanoparticles from AuCl4 solution using the Caesalpinia pulcherrima (Peacock flower) flower extract as reducing agent. The gold nanoparticles were characterized using UV-visible spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The UV- visible spectra indicate a strong Plasmon resonance that is located at ~450 nm. The TEM analysis shows that products have spherical morphology with size ranging between 10-50 nm. The study also indicates that gold nanoparticles show good antimicrobial activities when compared to the standard antibiotics.