ABSTRACT The present invention relates to a synthesis of water soluble, crystalline, luminescent silicon nanoparticles from husk of grains which contains silica, more specifically relates to rice husk by microwave irradiation. The silicon nanoparticles exhibit excitation at 420 nm and emission at 520 nm with quantum yield of 0.60 in aqueous solutions. These silicon nanoparticles are conjugated with biocompatible molecules to enable them useful in biological applications such as imaging and also useful in other applications such as sensing, light harvesting, photovoltaics, etc.
