Algae-mediated synthesis of biogenic nanoparticles

In recent era, green trend of synthesising biogenic nanoparticles (NPs) is a sustainable, safe, environment-friendly, and relatively inexpensive substitute to conservative routes of NPs making Biosynthesis route showcases significant properties such as the absence of poisonous chemical compounds used as stabilising or reducing agents, lack of toxic yields generated from the process, reduced energy consumption, inexpensiveness, and high scalability. This has made green synthesis methods more attractive than other traditional methods. Synthesis of nanomaterials (NMs) using algae extracts is a substantiating ecological, simple, low-priced biosynthesis process. The secondary metabolites from algae have been reported to reduce metal precursors to nanoparticles (metal, metal oxide, or bimetallic NPs). Moreover, they cap and stabilise. Depending on the site of NP formation, synthesis could occur intra or extra-cellularly. Among the varied series of algae mediated synthesis, the most commonly biosynthesised NPs are silver, gold, copper oxide, cuprous oxide and zinc oxide. The algal biosynthesised NPs have been reviewed for numerous biomedical applications, which comprise anti-cancerous, anti-fouling, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, bioremediation, and biosensing activities. The current review draws the major stress on the basis behind the algal-mediated biosynthesis of metallic and metallic oxide NPs from various algae. Furthermore, special attention to critical understanding of biosynthesis mechanism of NPs from algae and their biomedical applications has been reviewed critically.