A general strategy employed by many research groups in fulfilling these requirements is based on coating the nanoparticles with different classes of biopolymers. Since polyethylene glycol (PEG) is one of the most versatile this website biopolymer, environmentally benign and already used in the pharmaceutical and biomedical industries, much of the research interest has been focused on developing new methods of PEGylation. The successful attachment of PEG molecules onto the nanoparticle surface has already been done by adding SH-modified PEG molecules on previously synthesized

AgNPs [10] or using PEG as both reducing and stabilizing agents without [11–13] or within aqueous media [14, 15]. Although the already reported methods are successful, they

have two major drawbacks: the time required for the complete formation of PEG-functionalized AgNPs can reach several hours, and the methodology NVP-BSK805 mw is quite complex in most of the cases. In this paper, we report a simple, green, effective, and extremely fast method in preparing stable, highly SERS-active, and biocompatible silver colloids by the reduction of silver nitrate with PEG 200 at alkaline pH in aqueous media. The addition of sodium hydroxide Selleck MEK inhibitor shifts the solution pH towards the alkaline environment, thus reducing the reaction time from several hours to a few seconds. Sequential studies certified that the use of unmodified PEG molecules as reducing agent allows the successful formation of AgNPs. Fenbendazole The key element of our method is in the presence of additional -OH groups generated in the solution by sodium hydroxide, enhancing the speed of chemical reduction of silver ions. Astonishing is the fact that Ag+ can be steadily reduced to Ag0 in such mild conditions, and remarkable is the fact that direct and cleaner AgNPs have been synthesized in a few seconds without using any mediators in the process. The as-produced silver

colloids have been characterized by UV–vis spectrometry, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and SERS. The SERS activity of silver colloids was tested using various analytes and was compared with those given by both citrate- and hydroxylamine-reduced silver colloids. Methods Silver nitrate (0.017 g), PEG 200 (0.680 ml), sodium hydroxide (1.1 ml, 0.1%), amoxicillin, sodium citrate dehydrate, and hydroxylamine hydrochloride were of analytical reagent grade. Double-distilled water (100 ml) was used as solvent. 4-(2-Pyridylazo)resorcinol (PAR) complexes with Cu(II) were prepared by mixing solutions of Cu(II) sulfate pentahydrate and PAR at 1:1 molar ratios, resulting in Cu(PAR)2 complexes. UV–vis spectra were recorded on a UV–vis-NIR diode array spectrometer (ABL&E Jasco Romania S.R.L, Cluj-Napoca, Romania) using standard quartz cells at room temperature.