Biological and Physical Applications of Silver Nanoparticles with Emerging Trends of Green Synthesis

Abstract

Among the emerging nanotechnology, nanoparticles get much attention due to their unique physicochemical, optical, electrical, and thermal activities. Nowadays, extensive research on silver nanoparticles is going on due to their wide applicabil-ity in different fields. Silver nanoparticles possess excellent anticancer as well as antimicrobial efficacy (hence found major and wide applications as antimicrobial, wound healing, antidiarrheal, and antifungal agents). A huge and advanced per-spective of silver nanoparticles is found in environmental hygiene and sterilization due to their magnificent disinfectant properties. The other major applications of silver nanoparticles include diagnostic (as biological tags in biosensors, assays, and quantitative detection), conductive (in conductive inks, pastes, and fillers), optical (metal-enhanced fluorescence and surface-enhanced Raman scattering), and household (pesticides and wastewater treatment) applications. The present review consists of an exhaustive detail about the biological and physical applications of silver nanoparticles along with the analysis of historical evolution, the present scenario, and possible future outcomes.