Journal of Cluster Science (2020) 31:1137–1145

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10876-019-01721-6(0123456789().,-volV)(0123456789().
,- volV)

ORIGINAL PAPER

Sustainable Utilization of Molasses Towards Green Synthesis of Silver

Nanoparticles for Colorimetric Heavy Metal Sensing and Catalytic
Applications
Manjari Gangarapu1 • Parthiban Anaikutti2 • Saran Sarangapany3

Received: 18 September 2019 / Published online: 11 November 2019

 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2019

Abstract
A novel and facile synthetic route were evaluated towards the formation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) by exploiting
molasses as a biomaterial for the first time. The sugar molasses is a viscous material produced from sugarcane refining and
the bio-components responsible for the formation of crystalline AgNPs validated by FTIR, UV–Vis spec., EDX, and XRD.
The almost oval-shaped AgNPs with an average of 16 nm size were analyzed through DLS and TEM, respectively. Based
on the significant characterization results, the AgNPs was employed for simple colorimetric detection of mercury (Hg2?) at
low concentration. Here, we also described its catalytic efficacy for the reduction of 4-NP. The AgNPs found to have
excellent efficacy in the detection of Hg2? at 0.02 lM concentration. It also proved to have a prominent role in the
reduction of 4-NP with 80% conversion efficiency even after 6 cycles. Combining highly selective and sensitive sensors as
well as efficient and convenience catalysts have been proposed as detection and catalyzing nanomaterial for the envi-
ronmental pollutants in water. The approach in this work is cost-effective and provides potential opportunities in envi-
ronmental fields for a sustainable future.

Keywords Bio-synthesis  Molasses  Ag nanoparticles  Catalysis  Sensors

Introduction sugars, phenols, amino acids, vitamins, and flavonoids,

etc., the physicochemical properties of these groups play an
Synthesis of metal nanoparticles are attractive in nan- essential role as a reducing, capping and stabilizing agent
otechnology and are extensively applied in catalysis, in the synthesis of metal nanoparticles from metal ions.
sensing, biomedical, etc. Nowadays, enormous research is Cashew nut shell liquid and Chicken eggshell membrane
investigated on the green mediated synthesis of nanopar- are the secondary waste products used in the synthesis of
ticles due to facile, nontoxic, naturally abundant, and cost- silver (Ag) and gold (Au) nanoparticles because they
effective materials [1]. Synthesis of metal nanoparticles contain glycoproteins, amino acids and other organic
using the byproducts and secondary wastes are gaining compounds for tuning of NPs [2, 3]. The waste peels of
much attention. The secondary products and bio-waste different fruit extract contain ketone and hydroxyl groups
materials contain various bioactive components such as contributed in reducing and capping of the AgNPs forma-
tion [4]. Several authors have also reported the synthesis of
metal nanoparticles via secondary products and bio-waste
& Saran Sarangapany materials such as vegetable waste, waste-grass, fruit waste
saran@iitg.ac.in [5, 6].
1 In this concern, the abundantly available sugar cane
Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences,
Pondicherry University, Puducherry 605014, India molasses was utilized for the synthesis of Ag nanoparticles.
2 The molasses is a dark and viscous runoff syrup from the
National Centre for Sustainable Coaster Management,
Chennai 600025, India crystallization stage of sugar cane and sugar beets refining
3 industry. Annually, more than 40 million metric tons of
Centre for the Environment, Indian Institute of Technology,
Guwahati, Assam 781039, India molasses were produced worldwide. It contains various

123
1138
bio-components like glucose, fructose as fermentable car-
bohydrates, phenolic compounds, minerals, vitamins, and
non-sugar organic compounds, an eco-friendly and eco-
nomically attractive source for energy [7]. Molasses is one
of the cheap sources of carbon stock in the fermentation
process of bio-fuel and ethanol production and also a chief
supplement for livestock feed [8]. It is used in the pro-
duction of baker’s yeast, various bio-surfactants, lactic
acid, e-poly-L-lysine, isomaltulose, and other organic
chemicals and also used as a sweetener and colorant in the
food industry [9–11]. Also, the molasses has a high range
of polyphenol content resulted in the potent antioxidant
capacity [12, 13]. Several authors reported the potential
antioxidant activity of molasses as an alternative to com-
mercial ones [14–16].
The heavy metals like Mg2?, Cd2?, Ba2?, Hg2?, Pb2?,
and Sn2?, etc., are toxic and carcinogenic in the ecological
systems because of the formation of complexes by inter-
action with ligands of biological matter. For this reason, the
facile detection of heavy metals like Mg2?, Cd2?, Ba2?,
Hg2?, Pb2?, and Sn2?, etc., at deficient concentration has
become a vital need in environmental and food safety
remedial processes concern [17]. Mercury contamination
has severe detrimental effects on human beings compared
to other heavy metals. Several authors have reported dif-
ferent sensing approaches for heavy metals detection in
various bodies using alloys, synthetic and biological
receptors, electrochemical, and light emission fluorescence,
etc. [18–21]. All these methods are possessing high sen-
sitivity with some limitations like time consuming proce-
dure, unsustainable and costly [22]. Recently, green
synthesized metal nanoparticles gaining more attention for
the colorimetric sensing of heavy metals in water due to its
size, shape, optical properties, eco-friendly, cost-effective
and easy procedure with excellent sensitivity [23, 24].
Therefore, metal nanoparticles for colorimetric detection of
heavy metals are of great interest due to its surface plasmon
resonance absorption and particle distance associated with
dielectric properties of heavy metals by color change [25].
Especially, Silver (Ag) nanoparticles possess high molar
extinction coefficients and its fluorescence properties in
colloidal form for the selective sensing of the Hg2? ions in
water bodies [26].
4-Nitrophenol (4-NP) is one of the major toxic com-
pounds in nitro-group and used as a precursor for the
4-aminophenol production, which was mainly used as an
intermediate compound in many industries [27]. The con-
version of 4-NP to 4-AP is not feasible kinetically without
catalyst because of the high kinetic barrier between 4-NP
and reducing agent by repelling the force of ions (sodium
borohydride) [28]. For environmental sustainability, the
development of eco-friendly metal nanoparticles as
nanocatalyst for the conversion of nitro compounds is
123
G. Manjari et al.
commonly gaining importance. The rapid catalytic hydro-
genation of 4-NP using green synthesized metal nanopar-
ticles has been extensively studied for a long time [29, 30].
Although, the synthesis of metal nanoparticles from sec-
ondary waste to valuable material for sustainable devel-
opment is widely investigating recently. Herein, we report
for the first time for the sustainable synthesis of Ag
nanoparticles from readily available molasses as a sec-
ondary waste product of sugarcane, and their characteri-
zation studied. The synthesized Ag NPs were utilized in the
selective detection of Hg2?, and the catalytic hydrogena-
tion of 4-NP to 4-AP was successfully demonstrated.
Experimental Details
Chemical and Materials
All chemicals used in the experiment were of analytical
grade, and the solutions were prepared using double-dis-
tilled water. Silver nitrate (AgNO3 99.8%), 4-nitrophenol
(4-NP), and Sodium borohydride (NaBH4) were purchased
from Himedia Laboratories Ltd. India. Different cations
like HgCl2, CoCl2, SnCl2, Na2HAsO4 FeCl2, Pb(NO3)2,
CaCl2, CdCl2, CuCl2, and MnSO4 were purchased from
Sigma-Aldrich chemical companies and used as received
without further purification. The molasses was collected
from the sugar refinery industry, Puducherry, India.
Sustainable Synthesis of Ag Nanoparticles
Sustainable Ag nanoparticles were prepared by adding
10 ml of 1% aqueous molasses solution in 100 ml of 1 mM
Ag precursors solution at room temperature. The color
change of the solution was observed after 12 h, and the
reaction went to completion after 36 h, which indicates the
formation of Ag NPs.
Instruments
The optical properties and formation of AgNPs and other
absorption spectral studies were confirmed by double beam
UV–Vis (Thermo Scientific; UV 2600) spectrophotometer
at regular intervals. The role of bio-compounds present in
the sugar molasses in the formation of AgNPs was con-
firmed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR, Nicolet; model
6700) spectrophotometer of the range of 400–4000 cm-1.
The crystalline and morphology of Ag NPs were observed
by X-ray diffraction (XRD, Philips PW 3710/3020) and
transmission electron microscopy (TEM, JEOL; model
2010). The composition, size, and stability analysis was
performed by Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy
(EDAX, S3700 N), dynamic light scattering (DLS, Zeta-
Sustainable Utilization of Molasses Towards Green Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles for…
sizer Nano, ZS with a 633 nm Helium–Neon laser) and
Zeta potential analysis (MPT-2 Autotitrator (Malvern,
UK)).
Colorimetric Sensing of Hg21 Ions
The ability of freshly formed bio-synthesized AgNPs col-
loidal solution (2.5 ml) was investigated by colorimetric
detection of metal ions at the same concentration (1 mM of
0.5 ml) at ambient environmental conditions. The complete
reaction changes were monitored in the UV–visible
absorption spectra at room temperature. The reaction was
further monitored by the successful addition of Hg2? ion,
and the intensity of SPR (surface resonance plasmon) was
recorded.
Real Samples
For the detection of Hg2? ions in real water samples, the
river water was collected from the Brahmaputra river,
drinking and tap water was collected from our laboratory,
Pondicherry University, India. All the water samples are
filtered through the microfiltration membrane, and a stan-
dard solution of Hg2? ions in three different concentrations
was spiked in water samples. The colorimetric changes of
the samples in the presence of Ag NPs were analyzed by
UV–Vis spectrophotometer.
Catalytic Hydrogenation
For the catalytic hydrogenation, 1 ml of 10-3 M 4-NP with
1 ml of 10-2 M NaBH4 in the presence of 5 mg of bio-
synthesized AgNPs were performed as a model reaction. At
the end of the catalytic reaction, nanoparticles were
recovered for reuse and recycle using simple centrifuga-
tion. The conversion percentage of nitro-compound was
calculated using
Conversion=degradation % ¼ Conversion ð%Þ
¼ A0  At =A0  100
where A0 and At are absorbance of catalytic hydrogenation
reaction at 0 and t seconds respectively [31].
Results and Discussion
Characterization
The formation of Ag? to Ag NPs using molasses as a
reducing agent was investigated by surface resonance
plasmon (SPR) phenomenon in UV–Vis spectroscopy. The
color of the Ag NPs solution changes from light brown to
dark brown due to the excitation of the SPR band, which is
1139
related to the morphology of the nanoparticles [32]. Fig-
ure 1 shows the formation of AgNPs with an absorbance
around 450 nm using sugar cane secondary waste as a
reducing agent. The color of the Ag NPs solution was
unchanged, and the SPR band of AgNPs was stable up to
2 months, which suggests the stability of AgNPs.
FTIR analysis was conducted for the functional groups
of molasses involved as reducing and capping agents in the
synthesis of AgNPs (Fig. 2). The pronounced characteristic
bands of sugar cane molasses were observed at around
3450 cm-1, 2050 cm-1, 1640 cm-1, and 600 cm-1. A
reduction in alcohol/phenols band (–OH stretch,
3450 cm-1) of the molasses was observed in the synthe-
sized AgNPs (–OH stretch, 3330 cm-1), indicates the uti-
lization of phenolic group compounds in the formation of
nanoparticles. Similarly, the reduction in the primary
amide band (C=O stretch, 1640 cm-1) to secondary amide
(N–H bend, 1600 cm-1) in AgNPs formation was
observed. The redshift in the OH vibrations band
(2050 cm-1) of the molasses to nitrile band (C=N stretch,
2250 cm-1) in AgNPs formation. The other new peaks for
C-O groups stretching vibration at 1280 cm-1 and C–H
bending vibration at 794 cm-1 were observed [33–35]. The
FTIR results confirmed the bio-active compounds of
molasses such as alcohols/phenols, amides, carboxylic, and
other compounds are actively involved in the formation of
AgNPs.
The Bragg’s reflections (2h) in XRD pattern for sus-
tainable AgNPs were observed at 38.2, 44.98, and 64.34
which corresponds to the lattice plane (111), (200), and
(220) sets (Fig. 3). The lattice plane sets clearly shown the
band for a face-centred cubic structure (fcc) of silver with
crystalline nature. The average crystal size of sustainable
AgNPs was calculated from the full width half maximum
ð1Þ
Fig. 1 UV–visible absorbance spectra of green synthesised Ag NPs at
different time intervals (Hours)
123
1140
Fig. 2 FTIR spectra of Mollassess and Silver NPs
Fig. 3 XRD pattern of Silver nanoparticles
(FWHM) of Bragg reflections by Debye–Scherrer equation
[36]:
D ¼ Kk=b cos h ð2Þ
where ‘‘D’’ is the average crystalline size, ‘‘k’’ is the X-ray
wavelength (0.1541 nm), ‘‘b’’ is the FWHM in radians, and
‘‘h’’ is the Bragg’s angle. The average crystalline size
ca.15.7 nm.
The particle size and granulometric distribution of col-
loidal AgNPs analyzed using dynamic light scattering
(DLS). Figure 4a illustrates more than 90% of the
nanoparticles lies from 10 to 100 nm range and an average
size of 41 nm for the AgNPs [37]. The overall nanoparti-
cles surface charge analyzed through zeta potential, which
provides the stability of nanoparticles by charges repulsion.
123
G. Manjari et al.
The net zeta potential of AgNPs was determined as -
19.0 mV, which suggests the binding capacity of the cap-
ping agents on the surface of the nanoparticles (Fig. 4b).
The result also suggests the AgNPs dispersion stability due
to the electrostatic repulsive forces. The more
stable nanoparticles with high negative charges on the
surface because of bioactive compounds of molasses.
The morphological features of synthesized Ag
nanoparticles were observed through TEM analysis
(Fig. 5). The nanoparticles are spherical, and the size in the
range from 8 to 24 nm with an average size of 16 nm, and
the results support the XRD analysis. The Selected area
electron diffraction (SAED) pattern in the Fig. 5d illus-
trates the crystalline nature of the synthesized AgNPs by
the diffraction pattern of nanoparticles directed to crys-
talline planes (111), (200), (220), and (311), corresponding
to the fcc structure. The bioactive compounds of molasses
may have played a major role in the size of nanoparticles.
The elemental composition of the sustainably synthesized
AgNPs investigated using the Energy-dispersive X-ray
(EDX) spectrum. Figure 6 shows the presence of the ele-
mental silver, carbon, and oxygen which confirms the
synthesized nanoparticles contain only silver.
Colorimetric Sensing of Heavy Metals
The sustainably formed AgNPs at optimized concentration
(2.5 ml) were used as the colorimetric sensor for detection
of various metal ions (Fe2?, Ca2?, Pb2?, Np2?, Cu2?,
Mn2?, As2?, Co2?, Cd2?, Hg2?, Sn2? and Cr3?). The
detection ability of AgNPs was investigated for each of the
metal ions separately at a fixed concentration of 0.5 ml of
1 lM solution added with the nanoparticles solution. The
solution immediately converted to colorless for Hg2?,
while the remaining metal ions did not show any remark-
able change in the color (Fig. 7a). The change in the SPR
band absorbance was monitored by UV–Vis spectroscopy,
a blue shift in the SPR band intensity was observed for
Hg2? ions (500 nm), which is due to the inter-plasmonic
coupling of Ag nanoparticles by metal ions induced
aggregation (Fig. 7b).
Sensitivity and Selectivity of the Hg21 Ions
The quantitative evaluation of the selectivity and minimum
detectable limit of Hg2? was studied using different con-
centrations of these metal ions in the presence of the Ag
NPs at ambient conditions and change in the SPR band was
monitored by UV–Vis spectroscopy. The concentration of
Hg2? ions increases with a decrease in the SPR band
intensity along with a gradual decrease in the hyp-
sochromic shift by changing the color of the solution from
brown to colorless (Fig. 8a). The color change was
Sustainable Utilization of Molasses Towards Green Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles for… 1141

Fig. 4 Particle size distribution of Ag NPs (a) and Zeta Potential of Ag Nps (b)

Fig. 5 TEM image of Ag NPs at

different scale (a–c) and SAED
pattern (d)

observed because of the direct redox reaction between
zero-valent Ag and Hg2? ions, oxidation of Ag nanopar-
ticles to Ag? and reduction of Hg2? ions to Hg atom. A
similar observation has been reported earlier [38, 39].
However, a blue shift in the SPR band intensity with an
increase in the Hg2? ions concentration ranging from
0.01 lM to 1 lM and the linear regression coefficient (R2)
value was found to be 0.9809 (Fig. 8b). Figure 8a confirms
the sustainably synthesized Ag NPs exhibit the minimum
detection limit 0.025 lM of Hg2? ions in the aqueous
solution by a slight blue shift on the SPR band.
Possible Mechanism for the Interaction of AgNPs
with the Heavy Metal Ions
Based on earlier reports and present study results, a plau-
sible mechanism for the interaction of Ag NPs with Hg2?
ions was proposed and shown in Scheme 1. Based on our
results, a blue shift on SPR band absorbance with
increasing concentration of Hg2? ions in the presence of
the Ag NPs solution by the change in solution color from
brown to colorless, which could be due to the oxidation of
Ag0 to Ag? in the reduction process of Hg2? ions [38]. The

123
1142 G. Manjari et al.

Fig. 6 EDX Spectrum of Ag NPs

AgNPs were stabilized from secondary waste molasses

which contains various bioactive compounds, and that
could act as coordination sites for binding of Hg2? ions.
The corresponding DLS analysis, the average size of
41 nm AgNPs have appeared in Fig. 4a, there is a drastic
change in the size of the nanoparticles (142.60 nm) after
adding the Hg2? ions to the Ag NPs solution (Fig. 8c). A
blue shift on the SPR band could be due to the Hg2? ions
influence on the surface of Ag NPs by redox reaction and
influences on the size of the Ag NPs [22, 40]. The results
were compared with different studies and tabulated in
Table 1 [41–43].

Detection of Hg21 in Practical Application

Monitoring of the level of the Hg2? ion in the water

Fig. 7 Photograph showing Ag NPs upon addition with different
metal ions (a) and UV-Vis spectra of AgNPs interaction with different
metal ions (b)
samples is essential because the microbes in the aquatic
system convert it to hypertoxic methylmercury. The prac-
tical applicability of a sustainably prepared SPR sensor (Ag
NPs) was evaluated to measure the Hg2? ions in real water
samples. The drinking, tap, and river water samples are
spiked with Hg2? ions in different concentrations with
triplicates were analyzed. The obtained results are illus-
trated in Table 2. The results gave good accuracy between
the added and recovery of Hg2? ions. The selectivity

123
Sustainable Utilization of Molasses Towards Green Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles for… 1143

Fig. 8 UV-Vis absorbance spectra of AgNPs with different Hg2? concentration (a), linear plot for absorbance difference versus Hg2?
concentration (b) and Particle size distribution of Ag NPs upon addition of 1 lM Hg2? solution (c)

Catalytic Performance

The conversion of 4-NP to 4-AP in the presence of NaBH4

Scheme 1 A plausible mechanism of Hg2? sensing using AgNPs
performance of the prepared sensor in the interference of
other heavy metal ions also exhibits its sensitivity, due to
the high affinity of Hg towards Ag. The main advantage of
the sustainably developed sensor is rapid response time at
minimum detection limit and can be applied to detect Hg2?
ions in various water bodies.
was taken as a model reaction to evaluate the catalytic
activity of Ag NPs, and the hydrogenation reaction was
monitored in UV–Vis spectroscopy. As it was known,
4-NP reduction by NaBH4 was viable thermodynamically
because the standard electrode potential differences are
greater than zero, but the reaction is kinetically not feasible
without catalyst [29]. Moreover, the pale yellow color
4-NP solution turns to bright yellow after adding NaBH4,
indicates the 4-nitrophenolate formation by the shift in the
absorbance peak from 317 to 400 nm (Fig. 9a) [36]. The

Table 1 A comparison
Probe Limit of detection Linear range References
approaches for the detection of
Hg2? SA - PVA/AgNPs 3 lg L -1
0.9–200 lg L -1
[42]
-1 -1
Green synthesized AgNPs 2200 nmol L 10–100 lmol L [22]
Gln - His/AgNPs 900 nmol L-1 10–500 lmol L-1 [41]
Green synthesized AgNPs Not mentioned 50 nmol L-1–500 lmol L-1 [43]
Green synthesized AuNPs 120 nmol 50 nm–500 lM [40]
Sustainably synthesized AgNPs 0.02 lM 0.01–1 lM Present work

Table 2 Detection of Hg2? ions

Sample Hg concentration added (lM) Hg concentration found (lM) Recovery %
in various real water samples
Tap water 0.50 0.47 94 ± 1.5
0.70 0.68 97 ± 0.8
1.0 1.02 102 ± 1.2
Drinking water 0.50 0.49 98 ± 1.2
0.70 0.69 98.5 ± 1.3
1.0 0.99 99 ± 1.5
Brahmaputra river water 0.50 0.45 90 ± 1.2
0.70 0.71 101.5 ± 1.6
1.0 1.04 104 ± 1.4

123
1144
Fig. 9 UV-Vis spectra of 4-NP reduction to 4-AP (a) and Resue and recyclability of Ag NPs (b)
catalytic performance of Ag NPs for the conversion of
4-NP in the UV–Vis absorption spectra were displayed in
Fig. 9a. By adding of Ag NPs catalyst, a strong charac-
teristic peak of 4-nitrophenolate ions at 400 nm was dis-
appeared in 30 s and raised a new peak at 300 nm ascribed
to 4-AP. The size of the nanoparticles plays a significant
role in catalytic activity because the surface-to-volume
ratio and redox potential are depending on the size of
nanoparticles, that boost the interfacial electron transfer on
the surface of the AgNPs surface to 4-NP from BH4- ions
[44]. The size of the AgNPs is smaller and supports the fast
interfacial electron transfer between 4-NP from BH4- ions.
Moreover, the reuse and recyclability of the AgNPs cata-
lyst for the conversion of 4-NP in the presence of NaBH4
are shown in Fig. 9b. The conversion efficacy was 80%
after six cycles, which indicates highly stable AgNPs for
catalytic applications.
Conclusions
In summary, the present study reports a simple and sus-
tainable approach for the synthesis of AgNPs using
molasses at ambient conditions. The bioactive compounds
in molasses act as reducing, capping and stabilizing agents
for Ag NPs, and the nanoparticles are stable for 3 months.
The phenolic and amide group could be involved in the
synthesis and stabilization of Ag NPs, while the carboxyl
group and other compounds may bind to the surface of the
Ag nanoparticles acts as a capping agent. The morphology
and structure were confirmed using its characterization
results. The synthesized Ag NPs were used as a simple,
rapid, high selectivity and excellent sensitivity towards
colorimetric detection of quantitative and qualitative
123
G. Manjari et al.
sensing of Hg2? ions with a minimum detection limit of
0.025 lM concentration in real water bodies. The catalytic
conversion of 4-NP to 4-AP in the presence of NaBH4 over
the Ag NPs catalyst was completed almost in 30 s. The
high-density small-sized AgNPs is responsible for the high
catalytic activity by offering active sites for sufficient
contact and fast electron transfer to 4-NP from reducing
agent. The molasses mediated synthesis of Ag NPs repre-
sent a simple, sustainable and cost-effective method for
functionally active sensor and catalyst with a wide range of
applications.
Acknowledgements The authors thank the Pondicherry University for
its Central instrumentation facility.
References
1. G. Manjari, S. Saran, T. Arun, A. V. B. Rao, and S. P. Devipriya
(2017). J. Saudi Chem. Soc. 21, 610.
2. P. Velmurugan, M. Iydroose, S. M. Lee, M. Cho, J. H. Park, V.
Balachandar, and B. T. Oh (2014). Ind. J. Micro. 54, 196.
3. P. S. Devipriya, S. Banerjee, S. R. Chowdhury, and G. S. Kumar
(2012). RSC Adv. 2, 11578.
4. R. G. Saratale, G. D. Saratale, H. S. Shin, J. M. Jacob, A. Pug-
azhendhi, M. Bhaisare, and G. Kumar (2018). Environ. Sci. Poll.
Res. 25, 10164.
5. R. Mythili, T. Selvankumar, S. Kamala-Kannan, C. Sudhakar, F.
Ameen, A. Al-Sabri, K. Selvam, M. Govarthanan, and H. Kim
(2018). Mater. Lett. 225, 101.
6. M. Khatami, I. Sharifi, M. A. Nobre, N. Zafarnia, and M.
R. Aflatoonian (2018). Green Chem. Lett. Rev. 11, 125.
7. A. Schieber, F. C. Stintzing, and R. Carle (2001). Tren. Food Sci.
Technol. 12, 401.
8. D. Yan, Y. Lu, Y. F. Chen, and Q. Wu (2011). Biores. Technol.
102, 6487.
9. M. Nitschke and S. G. Costa (2007). Tren. Food Sci. Technol. 18,
252.
Sustainable Utilization of Molasses Towards Green Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles for…
10. J. Xia, Z. Xu, H. Xu, J. Liang, S. Li, and X. Feng (2014).
Bioresour. Technol. 164, 241.
11. L. Wu, S. Wu, J. Qiu, C. Xu, S. Li, and H. Xu (2017). Food
Chem. 229, 761.
12. Y. Nagai, T. Mizutani, H. Iwabe, S. Araki and M. Suzuki (2001).
In: Proceedings of the 60th annual meeting of sugar industry
technologists in Taiwan 2001.
13. C. M. Gumiaraes, M. S. Giao, S. S. Martinez, A. L. Pintado, M.
E. Pintado, L. S. Bento, and F. X. Malcata (2007). J. Food Sci.
72, 39.
14. A. Scalbert, C. Manach, C. Morand, C. Rémésy, and L. Jiménez
(2005). Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nut. 45, 287.
15. B. Payet, A. Shum, C. Sing, and J. Smadja (2006). J. Agric. Food
Chem. 54, 7270.
16. V. Valli, A. M. Gómez-Caravaca, M. Di Nunzio, F. Danesi, M.
F. Caboni, and A. Bordoni (2012). J Agric. Food Chem. 60,
12508.
17. J. Du, M. Zhao, W. Huang, Y. Deng, and Y. He (2018). Anal.
Bioanal. Chem. 410, 4519.
18. K. Wu, X. Zhao, M. Chen, H. Zhang, Z. Liu, X. Zhang, X. Zhu,
and Q. Liu (2018). New J. Chem. 42, 9578.
19. W. Huang, Y. Deng, and Y. He (2017). Biosens. Bioelectron. 91,
89.
20. Y. T. Wong, S. Y. Pang, M. K. Tsang, Y. Liu, H. Huang, S.
F. Yu, and J. Hao (2019). Nanoscale Adv. 1, 265.
21. Q. Liu, Y. Yang, H. Li, R. Zhu, Q. Shao, S. Yang, and J. Xu
(2015). Biosens. Bioelectron. 64, 147.
22. Y. He, B. Xu, W. Li, and H. Yu (2015). J. Agric. Food Chem. 63,
2930.
23. K. Farhadi, M. Forough, R. Molaei, S. Hajizadeh, and A. Rafi-
pour (2012). Sens. Actuators B Chem. 161, 880.
24. M. Chen, B. Yang, J. Zhu, H. Liu, X. Zhang, X. Zheng, and Q.
Liu (2018). Mat. Sci. Eng. C 90, 610.
25. K. Aslan, J. R. Lakowicz, and C. D. Geddes (2005). Analyt.
Chem. 77, 2007.
26. P. G. Mahajan, N. C. Dige, B. D. Vanjare, A. R. Phull, S. J. Kim,
and K. H. Lee (2019). J. Lumines. 206, 624.
27. M. Gangarapu, S. Sarangapany, K. K. Veerabhali, S. P. De-
vipriya, and V. B. R. Arava (2017). J. Clus. Sci. 28, 3127.
1145
28. G. Wu, X. Liang, L. Zhang, Z. Tang, M. Al-Mamun, H. Zhao,
and X. Su (2017). ACS Appl. Mater. Interface. 9, 18207.
29. Y. Junejo, A. Baykal, M. Safdar, and A. Balouch (2017). Appl.
Surf. Sci. 290, 499.
30. M. Gangarapu, S. Sarangapany, D. P. Suja, and V. B. R. Arava
(2018). Appl. Nanosci. 8, 1123.
31. A. S. Santhosh, S. Sandeep, and N. K. Swamy (2019). Surf.
Interfac. 14, 50.
32. S. Saran, G. Manjari, and S. P. Devipriya (2018). Catal. Lett. 44,
1.
33. R. Sankar, A. Karthik, K. Prabu, S. Karthik, K. S. Shivashangari,
and V. Ravikumar (2013). Coll. Surf. B Biointerf. 108, 80–84.
34. M. R. C. Sytu and D. H. Camacho (2018). Biol. Nano. Sci. 8, 835.
35. Z. Zhang, T. Si, J. Liu, K. Han, and G. Zhou (2018). RSC Adv. 8,
27349.
36. G. Manjari, S. Saran, T. Arun, S. P. Devipriya, and A. V. B. Rao
(2017). J. Clus. Sci. 28, 2041.
37. R. S. Priya, D. Geetha, and P. S. Ramesh (2016). Ecotox. Envi-
ron. Saf. 134, 308.
38. V. Marimuthu, S. Chandirasekar, and N. Rajendiran (2018).
Chem. Select. 3, 3918.
39. A. Amirjani and D. F. Haghshenas (2019). Talanta 192, 418.
40. M. Annadhasan, T. Muthukumarasamyvel, V. R. Sankar Babu,
and N. Rajendiran (2014). ACS Sustain Chem. Eng. 2, 887.
41. P. Buduru, B. S. R. Reddy, and N. V. S. Naidu (2017). Sens.
Actua. B Chem. 244, 972.
42. D. Sahu, N. Sarkar, G. Sahoo, P. Mohapatra, and S. K. Swain
(2017). Sens. Actuat B Chem. 246, 96.
43. V. Kumar, D. K. Singh, S. Mohan, D. Bano, R. K. Gundampati,
and S. H. Hasan (2017). J. Photochem. Photobiol. B Biol. 168,
67.
44. Z. Yan, L. Fu, X. Zuo, and H. Yang (2018). Appl. Cat. B: Env-
iron. 226, 23.
Publisher’s Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to
jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
123