In Vivo Biosynthesis of Inorganic Nanomaterials Using Eukaryotes—A Review

Abstract

Bionanotechnology, the use of biological resources to produce novel, valuable nanomaterials, has witnessed tremendous developments over the past two decades. This eco-friendly and sustainable approach enables the synthesis of numerous, diverse types of useful nanomaterials for many medical, commercial, and scientific applications. Countless reviews describing the biosynthesis of nanomaterials have been published. However, to the best of our knowledge, no review has been exclusively focused on the in vivo biosynthesis of inorganic nanomaterials. Therefore, the present review is dedicated to filling this gap by describing the many different facets of the in vivo biosynthesis of nanoparticles (NPs) using living eukaryotic cells and organisms—more specifically, live plants and living biomass of several species of microalgae, yeast, fungus, mammalian cells, and animals. It also highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the synthesis methodologies and the NP characteristics, bio-applications, and proposed synthesis mechanisms. This comprehensive review also brings attention to enabling a better understanding between the living organisms themselves and the synthesis conditions that allow their exploitation as nanobiotechnological production platforms as these might serve as a robust resource to boost and expand the bio-production and use of desirable, functional inorganic nanomaterials.

Photochemical Synthesis of Gold and Silver Nanoparticles—A Review

“…Inorganic NPs are commonly synthesized via three different approaches [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ]. Biological methods rely on biomolecules [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ], plants [ 18 ], fungi [ 19 , 20 ], yeast [ 21 , 22 , 23 ], algae [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ], and living cells and organisms [ 29 , 30 ] to promote the synthesis of NPs [ 4 , 31 , 32 ]. On the other hand, physical methods often involve specialized equipment [ 33 , 34 , 35 ], while chemical routes usually require numerous chemicals [ 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 ].…”

Sugar-Mediated Green Synthesis of Silver Selenide Semiconductor Nanocrystals under Ultrasound Irradiation

“…Bioprocesses employing natural reagents, plant materials, microorganisms or their extracts have proven efficient in the synthesis of inorganic NPs, usually in a nontoxic, aqueous medium [19][20][21]. The green synthesis of NPs offers advantages over the traditional physical and chemical methods.…”

Green Synthesis of Selenium and Tellurium Nanoparticles: Current Trends, Biological Properties and Biomedical Applications

“…Recently, the extra-and intra-cellular microbial production of metallic/metalloid NPs have been studied [27,33,41,[43][44][45][77][78][79]. In extracellular formation, the added metal salts The present review aims at providing a comprehensive insight upon the emerging routes implemented for the biosynthesis of SeNPs and TeNPs using various microorganisms and plants via different methodologies.…”

“…Plant-mediated NP synthesis may be carried out through two ways. Via the in vivo route, the NP morphology and size depend strongly on the biosynthesis location, e.g., roots, leaves, fruits, peels, buds, etc., and the implicated metabolites [27]. A chelation-mediated detoxification faculty may explain the mechanism of NP synthesis [232].…”

“…However, the use of toxic chemicals and/or the generation of harmful byproducts limit their application in clinical fields. Thus, materials scientists rely on a plethora of precursors and reducing/stabilizing agents from biological resources to produce environmentally friendly NPs to lower or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous chemicals [25][26][27]. Such biosystems include natural biomolecules [28][29][30][31], plants [32][33][34], algae [35][36][37][38][39][40], bacteria [41,42], yeast and fungi [43,44]; these biological entities exhibit high reductive capacities due to the presence of enzymes, proteins, lipids, sugars, and metabolites.…”