Electrochemical synthesis of water-soluble glutathione protected gold nanoparticles

Electrochemical synthesis of water-soluble gold nanoparticles with sizes smaller than 10 nm in a green condition is reported. A sacrificial gold anode in the presence of glutathione as a protecting ligand was used under constant current condition. The electrogenerated gold (III) ions were reduced by hydride ions and decorated by glutathione, resulted in the formation of bio-compatible gold nanoparticles. The produced nanoparticles were characterized using different techniques, including Uv-vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). TEM analysis indicates that the size distribution of nanoparticles is in the range of 4.0 to 7.0 nm. This work provides a new way to produce biocompatible gold nanoparticles.