Green Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Using Cyto-compatible Polymer Derivative of Tara Gum for Gold (III) ion Detection in Water Samples

Polymers blending has attracted significant interest in recent years owing to the possibility of synergistic interactions between blended materials which can be impressively beneficial over single substrates. Herein, a Tara gum derivative-(PVA-TG) blend was exploited as stabilizing agent for the synthesis of cyto-compatible PAPBA/(PVA-TG)/Ag, colloidal nanocomposite. Based on the in-situ oxidative polymerization strategy, 3-aminobenzene boronic acid (ABBA), was used for the reduction of silver salt, inside highly hydrophilic (PVA-TG) blend. As a result, AgNPs is formed, while ABBA, is oxidized to its conducting polymer conformation (PAPBA), all within the blended polymers solution. PAPBA/(PVA-TG)/Ag, showed dose-dependent cell viability with IC₅₀ of 3.9 µg/mL against human keratinocytes (HaCaT) cells, based on in vitro MTT assay, which attested to its cyto-compatibility. The material was fully characterized using various analytical equipment and was deployed for the detection of metal ion (Au³⁺ ion) in solution. At the optimal detection conditions, absorbance ratios, (A₅₆₀/A₄₂₉) displayed linearity with Au³⁺ concentrations from 0.10 to 10.0 & 10.0–80.0 µM, with 28.5 nM detection limit (LOD). Further, the mechanistic basis of the detection strategy was proven to be based on galvanic replacement and was applied to Au³⁺ detection/monitoring in environmental samples with reliable precision and accuracy (99.4–102.3%). In all, we have showcased an innovatively contrived synthesis strategy which can be of huge benefit in toxic metal ions monitoring in water samples.