Poly(vinyl alcohol) capped silver nanoparticles for antioxidant assay based on seed-mediated nanoparticle growth

A simple and rapid method for measurement of total antioxidant capacity (TAC) was developed. In this work, gallic acid was used as the antioxidant standard. Poly(vinyl alcohol) embedded silver nanoparticles (PVA-AgNPs) were employed as a colorimetric sensor. The detection principle was based on the seed-mediated nanoparticle growth technique. The PVA-AgNPs act as a catalyst in the reduction of Ag⁺ by gallic acid by providing nucleation seeds. Ag⁺ was reduced to Ag° and accumulated on the PVA-AgNP surface, leading to an increase in the size of particles. The absorbance of the colloidal solution was drastically enhanced with a small red shift. Under optimal conditions, a linear response was established between the change in absorbance and the TAC value expressed in terms of gallic acid equivalents. The linear range was from 25 to 200μM with a detection limit of 22.1μM. Satisfactory precision was obtained with % relative standard deviation (RSD) of 2.17. The developed sensor was successfully applied for TAC assessment of commercial ginger products. The PVA-AgNP sensor offers rapid analysis (within 5min) compared to other nanoparticle-based antioxidant assays. Synthesis of the particles and assay involved less-toxic chemicals, and is therefore a "greener" method.