Cyanobacteria as a source of nanoparticles and their applications

Abstract

Nanoparticles (NPs) are considered to improve and even revolutionize medicine, optics, and electronics. Most of the physical and chemical processes for NP synthesis require the use of toxic solvents, generation of hazardous byproducts, and high energy consumption. These shortcomings make the biological synthesis a preferred option. Biosynthesis of NPs using cyanobacteria has emerged as a rapidly developing research area in green nanotechnology; selecting the best species and optimizing the reaction conditions are under constant research. NPs can be synthesized from cyanobacteria using cell extracts or induced intracellular synthesis and naturally released in the culture medium. The naturally released NPs are stabilized by algal polysaccharides, which allows easy recovery of NPs. The size of the recovered particles as well as the reaction yield depends on the cyanobacteria genus. This chapter provides a broad understanding of NPs, highlights the disadvantages of conventional synthesis methods and includes evidence that biosynthesized NPs are better for a sustainable environment and has massive scope for pharmaceutical industries and biomedical applications. © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.