Silver nanoparticles: various methods of synthesis, size affecting factors and their potential applications–a review

Currently, synthesis of nanoparticles from several noble metals like palladium, tin, copper, silver and gold etc. has received more attention because of their unique properties as well as their application in different fields. Furthermore, silver nanoparticles play an important role in pharmaceutical industries because they function like antibacterial agents which carry less toxic effects. In case of industrial applications, silver particles (inkjet inks) having regular dispersions are helpful in making different electronic circuits. Over the period, various synthetic methods for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles were reported i.e. physical, chemical, and photochemical. However, most of the available techniques are expensive and not eco-friendly i.e. environmentally harmful. There are various factors such as the methods of synthesis, temperature, dispersing agent, surfactant etc. which greatly influence the quality and quantity of the synthesized nanoparticles and ultimately affect their properties. It is also pertinent to mention here that the main target for these silver nanoparticles was not only to synthesize in nano range, but also require easy, eco-friendly and economical synthesis of the nanoparticles. Therefore, this review mainly goes through the several methods of synthesis of nanoparticles which should be based on the green approach, and easy to be synthesized at low cost. In addition, we also discussed some approaches to fabricate silver-based nanoparticles, their enhanced properties and their different type of applications such as electrical conductivity, antibacterial, optical, photocatalytic properties.