PhD Oral Defense: Green nanotechnology approach for synthesis and encapsulation of gold nanoparticles from agricultural waste
PhD Oral Defense of Kiruba Krishnaswamy, Department of Bioresource Engineering
Researchers in nanotechnology are turning towards 鈥淣ature鈥� to provide inspiration to develop novel innovative methods for nanoparticle synthesis. Currently used chemical and physical methods of nanoparticles synthesis use toxic chemicals in their synthesis protocols. The toxic residues from these nanoparticles make them unsafe for food related applications. There is a need to develop nanoparticles using greener alternatives. Another challenging question that needs to be addressed is agricultural waste management. Merging these two problems led to the concept of creating wealth out of waste. Agricultural waste materials such as grape seeds, skin, stalk and organic waste generated during the Canadian fall season due to the fall of maple leaves and pine needles were used in this study to synthesize gold nanoparticles (AuNP). The main goal of this study is to synthesize gold nanoparticles without using toxic chemicals in the synthesis protocol making them suitable for drug/ functional food delivery systems.