Abstract
Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) were chosen to establish the role of ionic micelles on the morphology of cyanidin 3,5-di-O-glucoside (cyanin) assisted synthesis of zerovalent iron nanoparticles. Nucleation and growth process depends upon the presence of CTAB and SDS. CTAB exhibited catalytic sub-, post-and dilution-micellar effect for the nucleation and growth process of FeNPs formation in the present investigations. Nucleation process of FeNPs formation was inhibited in presence of SDS. The different role of SDS (inhibition) and CTAB (catalysis) micelles might be due to the strong electrostatic attraction and repulsion with Fe3+ ions and cyanin. The reduction rates of Fe3+ ions by cyanin were found to be 3.9 x 10(-3), 10.2 x 10(-3), and 2.6 x 10(-3) s(-1) for aqueous, CTAB and SDS, respectively. Transmission electron microscopic images indicate that the FeNPs are roughly spherical and poly dispersed.