LAUSR

Silver nanoparticles have attracted great attention in the biomedical research field, especially in cancer theranostics. In this study, we developed a synthesis method for silver nanoparticles in the solid state using high-speed vibration milling, in which biocompatible polymers such as poly(vinylpyrrolidone), poly(ethylene glycol) and chitosan were used for the reduction of the silver salt. The synthesis of the size-tunable silver nanoparticles was performed at room temperature and no surfactants to direct the anisotropic growth of the nanoparticles were required. The formation of the nanoparticles was studied using UV-visible and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy as well as transmission electron microscopy. The synthesized nanoparticles showed an average diameter ranging from 3.1 ± 1.4 to 22.8 ± 5.8 nm. In addition, the anticancer activity of these silver nanoparticles was assessed using cytotoxicity studies with human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7), human lung adenocarcinoma (NCI-H358) and mouse embryonic fibroblast (NIH-3T3) cell lines. Accordingly, an effective suppression of the proliferation of cell growth was found. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry