Agglomerates of Au-Pt bimetallic nanoparticles: synthesis and antibacterial activity

The extraction of bimetallic Au-Pt nanoparticles is interesting due to their multiple applications in catalytic processes, electronic devices, photothermal therapies, among others. On the other hand, the tendency of nanoparticles forming agglomerates may modify the behavior of the material, and thus their applications. This study shows a highly reproducible novel synthesis method, which only uses two organic agents (sucrose and ascorbic acid) as the reducing and stabilizing agents from nano-agglomerates of Au-Pt at room temperature. The TEM images show agglomerates with a mass fractal structure. We identified crystalline FCC, corresponding to the Au-Pt alloy. Furthermore, the coexistence of gold and platinum nanoparticles was shown through the EDS analysis. The UV-Vis spectrum showed that the resonance plasmon identified coincides with a great approximation to the results reported in the literature. Additionally, the agglomerates exhibited excellent antibacterial activity against bacteria Escherichia coli.