Bio fabrication of microalgae mediated nanoparticles: An insight into its mechanism, characterization and applications

The physiochemical methods for metallic nanoparticles (MNP) are expensive and the use of toxic chemicals are not ecofriendly. Thus, in the past two decades, green fabrication of MNPs has gained attention due to its ecofriendly nature, low-consumption and high-yield outputs. Microalgae have been proven to contain varieties of value-added pigments and compounds inside their biomass. Microalgae can be considered as bio factory for the synthesis of metallic nanoparticles (MNPs). The present review briefly summarizes the various metal precursors used for the biosynthesis of microalgal-based MNPs. This review also summarizes the reported MNPs from microalgae, factors affecting the biosynthesis of MNPs, fabrication mechanisms of biosynthesis, and their characterization techniques. This present review critically discusses the potential applications and future perspectives and further studies that focus on the advancement in microalgal-based MNPs biosynthesis.