Synthesis of silver nanoparticles: chemical, physical and biological methods

Abstract

Silver nanoparticles (NPs) have been the subjects of researchers because of their unique properties (e.g., size and shape depending optical, antimicrobial, and electrical properties). A variety of preparation techniques have been reported for the synthesis of silver NPs; notable examples include, laser ablation, gamma irradiation, electron irradiation, chemical reduction, photochemical methods, microwave processing, and biological synthetic methods. This review presents an overview of silver nanoparticle preparation by physical, chemical, and biological synthesis. The aim of this review article is, therefore, to reflect on the current state and future prospects, especially the potentials and limitations of the above mentioned techniques for industries.

Keywords: Biological synthesis; Chemical synthesis; Nanoparticle synthesis; Physical synthesis; Silver nanoparticles.

Fig. 1

Biosynthesis of silver NPs; We demonstrated the bioreductive synthesis of silver nanoparticles using F. oxysporum (an unpublished scanning electron microscopy micrograph recorded from silver NPs produced by reaction of silver nitrate solution (1 mM) with F. oxysporum).