Controlled preparation of arsenic nanoparticles

Arsenic nanoparticles are alternative for arsenic compounds currently used in medicine. The preparation of suitable arsenic nanoparticles could significantly reduce the doses of arsenic administered and thus eliminate negative side effects. A method for controlled synthesis of arsenic nanoparticles is proposed and described. The preparation of arsenic nanoparticles, based on the simple reduction of sodium arsenite by sodium tetraborohydride in aqueous solution, led to the production of amorphous, spherical nanoparticles with diameters between 50 and 90 nm. Diameter was controlled simply by varying the pH value of the solution within the range of 5.5–11.0. The addition of cetyl trimethylammonium bromide into the reaction mixture allowed the preparation of small crystalline arsenic nanoparticles with an average diameter of approximately 4 nm, and the addition of bovine serum albumin led to bottle-like amorphous arsenic nanoparticles. The prepared nanoparticles were characterised using the single-particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry method, ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy and electron microscopy.