Nanoparticles: Mechanism of biosynthesis using plant extracts, bacteria, fungi, and their applications

Abstract

The synthesis of eco-friendly nanoparticles (NPs) is a crucial step in nanotechnology. In recent years, to avoid environmental contamination, many efforts have been made many efforts are made to develop green methods for this purpose. For this reason, natural resources including plant extract, fungi and bacteria have been used to synthesize NPs. Plant extract contains active compounds of terpenoids, alkaloids, phenols, tannins, and vitamins that act as capping and reducing agents. The size, shape and applications of NPs are determined by the source from which they are manufactured. While active compounds of bacteria and fungi are intracellular enzymes, sugar molecules, canonical membrane proteins, Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide (NADH) and Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide Phosphate (NADPH) dependent enzymes play a crucial part as reducing agents. The characterization of NPs can be done by Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray Crystallography (XRD), Energy-dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Transmission Electron microscopy (TEM) and UV–Visible spectroscopy. This review paper elaborates major natural resources with detailed mechanisms involved in NPs synthesis and their few applications in biomedical science, life science and electronics.