Silver nanoparticles: A comprehensive review on mechanism, synthesis and biomedical applications

Abstract

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are used in medicine as antimicrobial agents. AgNPs are the subjects of research because of their inimitable properties like size and shape depending on optical, catalytical, antimicrobial, and electrical properties. Even though the perfect mode of action of AgNPs is not exactly known but an antimicrobial mode of action by free radical, dephosphorylation and by inhibiting the replication of DNA by attaching to their soft acids and bases is considered. A variety of physical methods, chemical methods, and biological techniques are applied for the synthesis of AgNPs. In these, the biological method is mostly useful and has a wide scope in the future due to its easy availability. Silver particles even synthesized of different shapes like cubic, pyramidal, nanorods, nanowires, etc. AgNPshave diverse applications in the medical field; it is also recognized as a cytotoxic agent and anti-cancer agent. This review article prefers to highlight on the mode of action, synthesis of AgNPs with different methods and types of AgNP's with different shapes and applications of them.