248
I. A. Adelere and A. Lateef
degraded 90% of methylene blue within 90 min under UV light. Furthermore, Arsiya
et al. (2016) established the biological production of palladium nanoparticles from
the aqueous extract of Chlorella vulgaris. The biosynthesized palladium nanoparticles (PdNPs) were dark brown in color with an absorption peak between 410 and
420 nm. The particles have spherical shape and 15 nm average size. They were crystalline in nature according to XRD analysis while the FTIR investigation confirmed
that amide and polyol groups present in C. vulgaris extract played a crucial function in the reduction of palladium ions for PdNPs formation. In another study, the
intracellular production of superparamagnetic two-lines ferri-hydrite nanoparticles
by microalgae Euglena gracilis was reported by Brayner et al. (2012). They are
dark in color with spherical shape. The HRTEM analysis confirmed the diameter of
the spherical nanoparticles as 0.6–1.0 nm. The nanoparticles have a well-controlled
shape and size with a narrow size distribution.
5 Conclusion
Microalgae have shown to be a very good resource for the synthesis of various
metallic nanoparticles with diverse areas of application. Microalgal-mediated
nanoparticles synthesis allows better control of size, crystal, shape, and other physicochemical properties. Microalgae are considered as cell factories for nanoscale particle
synthesis due to their high metal uptake capacity, high growth rate, and high biomass
productivity with a less cultivation time. The green chemistry approach of microalgal
nanoparticles synthesis could therefore be considered technically feasible owing to
its economic viability, environmental friendliness, biocompatibility, and possibility
of scaling up to produce particles of desirable physicochemical properties. Further
investigations would involve exploring the potency of microalgae to synthesize other
metallic nanoparticles that will be applicable in pharmaceutical, food, cosmetics,
industry, and biomedical areas.
References
Abinandan S, Subashchandrabose SR, Venkateswarlu K, Megharaj M (2018) Microalgae–bacteria
biofilms: a sustainable synergistic approach in remediation of acid mine drainage. Appl Microbiol
Biotechnol 102:1131–1144. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-017-8693-7
Abouelmagd SA, Meng F, Kim BK, Hyun H, Yeo Y (2016) Tannic acid-mediated surface functionalization of polymeric nanoparticles. ACS Biomater Sci Eng 2:2294–2303. https://doi.org/
10.1021/acsbiomaterials.6b00497
Adelere IA, Lateef A (2016) A novel approach to the green synthesis of metallic nanoparticles:
the use of agro-wastes, enzymes, and pigments. Nanotechnol Rev 5:567–587. https://doi.org/10.
1515/ntrev-2016-0024
Adenigba VO, Omomowo IO, Oloke JK, Fatukasi BA, Odeniyi MA, Adedayo AA (2020) Evaluation
of microalgal-based nanoparticles in the adsorption of heavy metals from Wastewater. IOP Conf
Series Mater Sci Eng C 805:012030. https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/805/1/012030
I. A. Adelere and A. Lateef
degraded 90% of methylene blue within 90 min under UV light. Furthermore, Arsiya
et al. (2016) established the biological production of palladium nanoparticles from
the aqueous extract of Chlorella vulgaris. The biosynthesized palladium nanoparticles (PdNPs) were dark brown in color with an absorption peak between 410 and
420 nm. The particles have spherical shape and 15 nm average size. They were crystalline in nature according to XRD analysis while the FTIR investigation confirmed
that amide and polyol groups present in C. vulgaris extract played a crucial function in the reduction of palladium ions for PdNPs formation. In another study, the
intracellular production of superparamagnetic two-lines ferri-hydrite nanoparticles
by microalgae Euglena gracilis was reported by Brayner et al. (2012). They are
dark in color with spherical shape. The HRTEM analysis confirmed the diameter of
the spherical nanoparticles as 0.6–1.0 nm. The nanoparticles have a well-controlled
shape and size with a narrow size distribution.
5 Conclusion
Microalgae have shown to be a very good resource for the synthesis of various
metallic nanoparticles with diverse areas of application. Microalgal-mediated
nanoparticles synthesis allows better control of size, crystal, shape, and other physicochemical properties. Microalgae are considered as cell factories for nanoscale particle
synthesis due to their high metal uptake capacity, high growth rate, and high biomass
productivity with a less cultivation time. The green chemistry approach of microalgal
nanoparticles synthesis could therefore be considered technically feasible owing to
its economic viability, environmental friendliness, biocompatibility, and possibility
of scaling up to produce particles of desirable physicochemical properties. Further
investigations would involve exploring the potency of microalgae to synthesize other
metallic nanoparticles that will be applicable in pharmaceutical, food, cosmetics,
industry, and biomedical areas.
References
Abinandan S, Subashchandrabose SR, Venkateswarlu K, Megharaj M (2018) Microalgae–bacteria
biofilms: a sustainable synergistic approach in remediation of acid mine drainage. Appl Microbiol
Biotechnol 102:1131–1144. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-017-8693-7
Abouelmagd SA, Meng F, Kim BK, Hyun H, Yeo Y (2016) Tannic acid-mediated surface functionalization of polymeric nanoparticles. ACS Biomater Sci Eng 2:2294–2303. https://doi.org/
10.1021/acsbiomaterials.6b00497
Adelere IA, Lateef A (2016) A novel approach to the green synthesis of metallic nanoparticles:
the use of agro-wastes, enzymes, and pigments. Nanotechnol Rev 5:567–587. https://doi.org/10.
1515/ntrev-2016-0024
Adenigba VO, Omomowo IO, Oloke JK, Fatukasi BA, Odeniyi MA, Adedayo AA (2020) Evaluation
of microalgal-based nanoparticles in the adsorption of heavy metals from Wastewater. IOP Conf
Series Mater Sci Eng C 805:012030. https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/805/1/012030