Kinetics and growth mechanism of the photoinduced synthesis of silver nanoparticles stabilized with lysozyme.

A fast and single-step procedure is reported for the preparation of stable solutions of spherical-shaped silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) coated with lysozyme (LZ). The preparation of the AgNP@LZ nanocomposites was based on the reduction of Ag with ketyl radicals photo-generated by the UVA-photolysis of the benzoin I-2959. Both reaction precursors bind to LZ, modifying its superficial charge and conformational structure.