Plants as potential synthesiser of precious metal nanoparticles: progress and prospects

The synthesis of metal nanoparticles is an active area of research in the field of nanotechnology. A variety of chemical and physical methods are used for synthesis of nanoparticles. However, these methods suffer from many drawbacks including use of toxic solvents, high energy consumption, hazardous by products etc. Hence, there is an essential need to develop environment-friendly methods for synthesis of metal nanoparticles. A promising approach to overcome this need is to harness the biological sources for synthesis of metal nanoparticles. Over the past several years, plants and their different products have come up as a low-cost, energy-efficient and non-toxic approach for synthesis of metal nanoparticles. In the present review, the authors provide an overview of various reports of the synthesis of metal nanoparticles by plants, the progress and future prospects of this field.