Bacteria Used For Metal Nanoparticles Synthesis - An Overview

During the last decades, metal nanoparticles have become very popular due to their unique optical, electronic, catalytic, antimicrobial, anti-cancer, and other properties. Traditionally, metal nanoparticles are synthesized through physical and chemical methods, but these approaches have various drawbacks, such as high cost, high working pressure and temperature or the use of toxic substances. Nowadays, attention is paid increasingly to biological methods (also called "green"), which use biological agents for the synthesis of nanoparticles. Advantages of these methods are cost-effectiveness and environmental friendliness. One of the promising directions is the use of microorganisms - especially bacteria. This review discusses the methods and benefits of using prokaryotes to biosynthesize metal nanoparticles and summarizes current knowledge in the field. It also aims to provide the reader with a clear list of the promising representatives of prokaryotes used for the nanoparticle synthesis of various metals.