Research Journal of Chemical Sciences ______________________________________________ ISSN 2231-606X Vol. 2(2), 75-78, Feb. (2012) Res.J.Chem.Sci. International Science Congress Association 75 Short Communication Synthesis of Nano Composites from Plant-based SourcesBhattacharjee C.R., Sharon M. and Nath A.3* Department of Chemistry, Assam University, Silchar, Assam, INDIA MONAD Nanotech Pvt Ltd, A-702 Bhawani Towers, Powai, Mumbai, INDIA Department of Chemistry, S. S. College, Hailakandi, Assam, INDIAAvailable online at: www.isca.in (Received 15th September 2011, revised 6th January 2012, accepted 16th January 2012)Abstract Nano-particles for pharmaceutical purposes are defined as solid colloidal particles ranging in size from 1 - 1000 nm (1 mm). They consist of macromolecular materials and can be used therapeutically as drug carriers, in which the active principle (drug or biologically active material) is dissolved, entrapped or encapsulated, or to which active principle is adsorbed or attached. Nature provides numerous fibrous and porous materials from which materials at nano range can be accessed easily. In the present paper, a qualitative aspect of synthesis and characterization of composite materials derived from plant based sources such as cane sugar and bond paper are discussed. Key Words: Bond paper, cane sugar, inorganic composite. Introduction Nano-scale regime is probably the nature’s choicest region of materials to carry out most of its finest processes1-3Materials in nano-domain exhibit a host of remarkable properties, unusual in the bulk material 3-5. A large number of key natural/biological processes take place in the nanometer scale regime. Therefore, a confluence of nanoscience and biology can address several biomedical problems, and can revolutionize the field of health and medicine4-8. The new age drugs are nanoparticles of polymers, metals or ceramics, which can combat conditions like cancer and fight human pathogens like bacteria9,10. Thus it is of great interest to synthesize the materials from naturally occurring fibrous material 11-13. However, producing such materials in commercial volume at viable market price is a challenging task 14, 15. We report herein nano structured inorganic composite materials obtained from plant-based sources such as burnt paper and charred sugar.Material and Methods The raw materials used for the synthesis are A4 size bond paper and 1 g cane sugar. The synthetic strategies adopted are as follows: Synthesis of material from bond paper (Material 1): An A4 size bond paper is dried in sunlight, crushed and burnt in open air at 200C using a Bunsen burner for half an hour. The carbon and other volatile oxidizable material volatilizes under that condition. The white leftover ash is treated with hot and concentrated sulphuric acid and washed repeatedly with distilled water to remove any sulphate and hydronium ions. The white ash left after is analyzed as material 1. Synthesis of material from cane sugar (Material 2): 1g of cane sugar is taken which is finely crushed into powder. The powdered material is then charred with hot and concentrated sulphuric acid with constant stirring. After a week, a black colloid appeared which is coagulated under gravity. The coagulated product is washed repeatedly with distilled water to remove the sulphate and hydronium ions. The black powder thus obtained is dried over an oven at 50C for 2 hours to obtain the material 2 for analysis. The morphologies of the synthesized materials have been studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and elemental composition by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). Results and Discussion The synthesized materials are found to be air and moisture stable and insoluble in water, methanol, toluene, hexane and carbon tetrachloride. However both are dispersible in chloroform. SEM Studies of the synthesized materials: Material 1: The synthesized material exhibits flake like domains as seen from its SEM image. The thickness of the flakes is recorded to be in the range 100-200 nm. Research Journal of Chemical Sciences __________________________________________________________ ISSN 2231-606X Vol. 2(2), 75-78, Feb. (2012) Res.J.Chem.SciInternational Science Congress Association 76 Figure-1(a) Figure-1 (b) Figure-1(c) Figure-1 SEM micrographs of the synthesized Material 1: (a) at lower resolution, (b) the higher resolution image showing aggregates, (c) the higher resolution image indicating the presence of flakes Figure-2 (a) Figure-2 (b) Figure-2 (c) Figure-2 SEM micrographs of the material 2 at different resolution indicated the presence of particles Material 2: The analysis of the SEM micrograph of the Material 2 indicates the presence of assemblage of non uniform particles. The dimensions of the particles are in the range 300-500 nm. Elemental Analysis: The EDS (energy dispersive spectroscopy) analyses were performed to identify the elements present in the material and their relative intensities. Material 1: The energy dispersive spectral (EDS) analysis of the Material 1 indicates the presence of high percentage of oxygen along with some contribution from magnesium and silicon. The constituents were in the approximate atomic ratio 3:1:1. This revealed that the material might be a mixed oxide. The EDS spectrum (figure-3) and the relative percentages of the elements were presented in table-1. Research Journal of Chemical Sciences __________________________________________________________ ISSN 2231-606X Vol. 2(2), 75-78, Feb. (2012) Res.J.Chem.SciInternational Science Congress Association 77 Figure-3 EDS peaks of the synthesized Material 1 Table-1 Elemental composition of the material 1 Element Weight% Atomic% O 52.86 64.98 Mg 18.41 14.89 Si 28.74 20.12 Total 100 Material 2: The EDS pattern of the synthesized Material 2 indicates the presence of carbon and oxygen as major constituents along with aluminium, sulphur and calcium as minor constituents. The percentage compositions of the material 2 are tabulated in table 2 and the EDS spectrum is displayed in the figure-4. Figure-4 EDS peaks of the synthesized Material 2 Table-2 Elemental composition of the Material 2 Element Weight% Atomic% C 50.82 61.58 O 33.80 30.75 Al 10.07 5.43 S 3.33 1.51 Ca 1.97 0.72 Total 100 Conclusion The synthesized materials have been obtained from natural plant based sources in an inexpensive way and the method can be scaled up and thus is a viable way for obtaining bulk material in the nano range. References1.Singh M., Singh S., Prasad S. and Gambhir I.S., Nanotechnology in Medicine and Antibacterial Effect of Silver Nano Particles, Digest, J. Nanomat. Biostr., 3(3), 115-122 (2008) 2.Sharon M., Drug Delivery and Nanotechnology, Book of Abstract, International Conference on Drug discovery and Nano technology, Yeshwant Mahavidyalaya, Nanded, Maharashtra, India, January, 22 (2008) 3.Sharon M. and Sharon M., Nano forms of Carbon and its application; Monad Nanotech Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, India, 221 (2007) 4.Bhattacharjee C.R., Paul S.B., Nath A., Choudhury S. and Choudhury P.N., Synthesis, X-ray Diffraction Study and Antimicrobial Activity of Calcium Sulphate Nanocomposite from Plant Charcoal, Materials, 2(2), 345-352 (2009) 5.Bhattacharjee C.R., Paul S.B., Nath A., Choudhury S., Choudhury P.N. and Purkayastha D.D., Synthesis and Antimicrobial Activity of a Novel Micro Composite derived from Plant Charcoal, Book of Abstracts, International Conference on Drug discovery and Nano technology, Yeshwant Mahavidyalaya, Nanded, Maharashtra, India, January, 88 (2008) 6.Siegel R.W., Nanophase Materials: Synthesis, Structure, and Properties, Springer Series in Material Science, 65 1994) 7.Datta K.K.R., Srinivasan B., Balaram H., and Eswaramoorthy M., Synthesis of Agarose-metal/semiconductor Nanoparticles having superior Bacteriocidal Activity and their simple Conversion to Metal-Carbon Composites, J. Chem. Sci.,120, 579-586 2008) 8.Jaybhaye S., Sharon M., Singh L. andSharon M., Study of Hydrogen Adsorption by Spiral Carbon Nano Fibres Synthesized From Acetylene, Synthesis and Reactivity in Inorganic, Metal-Organic and Nano-Metal Chemistry, 36, 37- 42 (2006) 9.Kshirsagar D.K., Puri V., Sharon M. and Sharon M., Microwave Absorption Study of Carbon Nano Material Synthesized from Natural Oils, Carbon Science, 7(4), 245-248 (2006) 10. Sharon M., Datta S., Shah S., Sharon M., Soga T., and Afre R., Photocatalytic degradation of E. coli and S. aureus by Multi Walled Carbon Nanotubes, Carbon Letters, 8(3), 184-190 (2007) 11. SharonM., Sathiyamoorthy D., Dasgupta K., Bhardwaj S., Sharon M., Soga T., Jaybhaye S. and Afre R., Hydrogen storage by carbon materials synthesized from oil seeds and fibrous plant materials, Int. J. Hydrog. En., 32, 4238-4249 (2007) Research Journal of Chemical Sciences __________________________________________________________ ISSN 2231-606X Vol. 2(2), 75-78, Feb. (2012) Res.J.Chem.SciInternational Science Congress Association 78 12.Sharon M., Ishihar K., Bhardwaj S., Sharon M., Soga T., Jaybhaye S. and Afre R., Carbon material from natural sources as an anode in Lithium Secondary Battery, Carbon Letters 8, 4 (2007) 13.Jagadale P., Sharon M., Sharon M.andKalita G., Carbon Thin Films from Plant-Derived Precursors, Synthesis and Reactivity in Inorganic, Metal-Organic, and Nano-Metal Chemistry, 37(6), 467-471 (2007) 14. Sharon M., Sathiyamoorthy D., Dasgupta K.., Bhardwaj S., Sharon M. and Jaybhaye S., Hydrogen Adsorption by Carbon Nanomaterials from Natural Source, Asian J. Exp. Sci., 22(2), 75-88 (2008) 15.Sharon M., Sathiyamoorthy D., Dasgupta K., Bhardwaj S., Sharon M., Soga T., Jaybhaye S., Jagadale P., Gupta A., Patil B., Ozha G., Pandey S., Kalita G. and Afre R., Carbon Nanomaterial from Tea Leaves as an Anode in Lithium Secondary Batteries, Asian J. Exp. Sci, 22(2), 89-93 (2008)