From Chemistry to Biology: Applications and Advantages of Green, Biosynthesized/Biofabricated Metal- and Carbon-based Nanoparticles

Abstract

Metal- and carbon-based nanoparticles (MBNPs/CBNPs) with different nanometric dimensions have unique combinations of physical and chemical properties. The physico-chemical properties, morphology, and interactions of nanomaterials with biological systems differ according to the source of synthesis and the extent and type of functionalization involved, which have many advantages for exciting nanotechnological applications in the fields of chemical and biological sciences. The biosynthesis and biofabrication of nanomaterials are achieved in a myriad of ways using plants and microorganisms. Greener synthesis has been conducted using the extracts of plants or other biological entities. This review focuses on the recent insights in the green and biological synthesis of MBNPs based on cadmium, cerium, copper, gold, iron, manganese, nickel, palladium, platinum, selenium, silver, titanium, yttrium, zinc, and zirconium, and CBNPs, such as carbon dots (CDs), as well as their chemical and biological applications, such as chemical catalysis, anticancer, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antibiofilm, antidiabetic, insecticidal, scolicidal, antileshmanial, angiogenesis, and immunostimulant agents, and as tools for bioimaging, biosensing, and drug delivery.