Review
Frontiers in Chemical Engineering ·
Volume 8 - 2026 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fceng.2026.1895789
Advances in biogenic nanoparticles: synthesis pathways and emerging applications
- Anil Punetha1
- Mamta Kharkwal2
- Aneeta Kharkwal1*corresponding author
- Gunjan Purohit3*corresponding author
- 1Department of Chemistry, S.V. Government P.G. College, Lohaghat, S.S.J. University, Almora, Uttarakhand, India
- 2Department of Chemistry, Rajdhani College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India
- 3Department of Chemistry, Jaypee Institute of Information Technology JIIT, Noida, India
Abstract
This review highlights the chemical and biogenic synthesis methods of nanoparticles, their characterisation, and comparative analysis in detail. The chemical methods used for the synthesis of NPs uses hazardous chemicals, involves high energy consumption and produces toxic byproducts thereby could affect the natural resources and organisms negatively. The alternative biogenic method used for the synthesis of NPs relies on a broad range of microorganisms and plants, is cost-effective and has emerged as an eco-friendly and non-toxic alternative to that of physical and chemical methods. Although biogenically synthesised NPs lack crystallinity, scalability, size, shape, and purity compared to chemically synthesised NPs, environmental impact is a major concern in today’s world, and biogenic synthesis is the best alternative method to address this. The review further highlighted the importance of reaction kinetics, process optimisation, and multiphase systems in controlling NPs growth, their morphology, functionality and stability. These biogenic NPs have various applications in industrial wastewater treatment, environmental remediation, bioactivity, drug delivery and agriculture. Furthermore, we have discussed the applications of both chemically synthesised and biogenically synthesised NPs. The study concludes the toxicity assessment, mechanistic understanding, process scalability and commercialisation barriers associated with the biogenic NPs. Overall, this review emphasises the pivotal role of biogenic NPs in advancing sustainable chemical engineering and next-generation multifunctional nanotechnology thereby emphasising on integrating chemical engineering, nanotechnology and a sustainable design framework to accelerate the transition of biogenic NPs from laboratory to industrial applications.
Keywords
1 Introduction
Nanotechnology is the most emerging field in today’s time with a high demand for various applications. Richard Feynman once said in his lecture (1959) “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom”, in this lecture he talked about the modern technology which is not explored due to the lack of techniques and equipment. He is considered as the Father of Nanotechnology (Khan et al., 2019; Nasrollahzadeh et al., 2019). Nanotechnology is an important field of research in synthesis of nanoparticles (NPs). NPs are highly interesting due to their small size and high surface area to volume ratio which makes them unique from bulk materials. The term NPs mean the particles ranging from 1 nm to 100 nm. 1 nm length can be understood as 10 H-atoms are set in a line (Akhtar et al., 2013; Baig et al., 2021; Sati et al., 2025). Over time, researches on NPs have emerged various methods for synthesis of NPs. NPs can be synthesized by top-down and bottom-up methods. Figure 1 displays the overview on biogenic synthesis of NPs.
The top-down method (known as destructive method) involves breaking of bulk large particles into NPs by various methods like mechanical milling method, laser ablation method, sputtering method, thermal decomposition, ion and plasma etching, arc discharge method, nano lithography method, anodization, etc., whereas bottom-up method (known as constructive method) involves building of atoms to NPs by several methods like green (or biological) methods, sol-gel method, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, pyrolysis method, soft and hard templating method, solvothermal and hydrothermal method, spinning method, reverse micelle method, etc. (Dhand et al., 2015; Ijaz et al., 2020; Baig et al., 2021; Huston et al., 2021; Abuzeid et al., 2023; Altammar, 2023; Kumari et al., 2023a; Namakka et al., 2023; Srinivasan and Rana, 2024; Sati et al., 2025). All these methods help in synthesizing different NPs with unique physicochemical properties. Traditionally, NPs were synthesized by physical and chemical methods offering a wide variety of NPs with controlled shape, size and morphology. Figure 2 shows various applications of NPs across diverse scientific domains.
Though these methods synthesize NPs but have various drawbacks like they use toxic chemicals and reagents which are harmful for the environment, requires very high temperature and pressure and removal of various toxic by-products after synthesis. To overcome these problems of physical and chemical methods, green synthesis (or biogenic synthesis) of NPs has gained interest as nontoxic, biocompatible and cost effective (Iqbal et al., 2020; Gebreslassie and Gebretnsae, 2021). In green synthesis of NPs, biological entities like plant extracts, biowaste, fungi, bacteria, algae, yeast and biological templates show reducing, capping and stabilizing potential (Nadaroglu et al., 2017; Huston et al., 2021; Abuzeid et al., 2023; Sati et al., 2025). Green synthesis works on 12 principles of green chemistry making it more convenient for future aspects (Huston et al., 2021). The need for novel nanotechnology applications has enhanced the research on NP synthesis. NPs plays a vital role in modern technology, their exceptional properties like high surface area to volume ratio, enhanced reactivity, tunable optical, electronic and magnetic properties (Stark et al., 2015; Singh et al., 2025) makes them competent in numerous fields and applications in biomedical, electronics, sensors, energy, agriculture, industrial and environmental remediation, etc. (Stark et al., 2015; Khan et al., 2019; Sati et al., 2025; Singh et al., 2025). Beyond their environmental advantages, biogenic NPs directly and indirectly support several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Aithal and Aithal, 2021; Elsakhawy et al., 2022; Kumar et al., 2024; Saraf et al., 2026). The biogenic NPs shows promising antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-cancer, wound healing, antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties. They can be used for drug delivery, imaging, antibacterial coating on medical devices, regenerative medicine and tissue engineering, thus contributing to SDG 3 (Good Health and Wellbeing) (Arora et al., 2024; Nyandoro et al., 2025). Biogenic NPs have also emerged as multifunctional materials for water purification and wastewater treatment. It involves photocatalysis, nano-adsorption, nanofiltration and catalytic degradation of organic pollutants, supporting SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) (Kumar et al., 2024; Nyandoro et al., 2025). Biogenic NPs also supports SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) as their tunable morphology, high surface area and eco-friendly synthetic route reduces the environmental footprints of advanced energy technologies (Shah et al., 2025). SDG 9 (Industry, Innovations, and Infrastructure) by promoting sustainable innovation and eco-friendly processes in biomedical engineering and healthcare systems. By reducing environmental impacts through biogenic synthesis, it promotes SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) (Nyandoro et al., 2025; Shah et al., 2025). Biogenic NPs further contribute to SDG 13 (Climate Action) by promoting environmentally sustainable technologies and minimizing the greenhouse gas emission (Nyandoro et al., 2025). Additionally, biogenic NPs indirectly supports SDG 14 (Life below Water) and SDG 15 (Life on Land) by sustainable use and the conservation of biological resources (Aithal and Aithal, 2021; Kumar et al., 2024).
Numerous studies and research conducted globally demonstrate the potential of NPs; however, there is still a need for proper efforts to establish beneficial approaches for various applications. This review highlights a critical comparative evaluation of chemical and biogenic NPs synthesis methods, as well as the optimal synthesis route for various applications. This review provides a fundamental understanding of the synthetic methodologies, reaction mechanism, process optimization, reducing and capping chemistry, characterization techniques and nucleation and growth of NPs that directly influence the application process. By integrating these perspectives, this review aims to provide researchers a resource for selecting the best suitable synthetic approach and identifying the key research directions required for sustainable commercialization of nanotechnologies.
2 Synthetic strategies for NPs
NP synthesis is an important part of nanoscience and nanotechnology. The process of synthesis of NPs involves various factors including pH, concentration, temperature, and reaction time for nucleation and production of NPs. Generally, NPs are synthesized mainly by two methods: Top-down and Bottom-up methods (Rahman et al., 2022).
Top-down method, called destructive method involves breaking down of bulk particles into nanosized particles. This method is generally used for brittle and hard materials. It includes laser ablation, ball milling, sputtering, lithography and arc discharge (Abid et al., 2022; Altammar, 2023; Kumari et al., 2023a). Bottom-up method, are called constructive method involves building of atomic particles to nanosized particles with controlled shape, size and morphology (Banjara et al., 2024). It includes sol-gel, chemical reduction, co-precipitation, hydrothermal, solvothermal, microemulsion, microwave-assisted, thermal decomposition and biogenic synthesis (Abid et al., 2022; Altammar, 2023; Kumari et al., 2023a; Namakka et al., 2023). Bottom-up method is generally used for synthesis of NPs in solid, liquid and gas phases, depending on reaction conditions and synthesis methods. The synthetic strategies of NPs is shown in Figure 3. Bottom-up methods are considered more cost effective with uniform size distribution, provides superior control over particle size, morphology, composition and crystallinity, then top-down method and is widely used for synthesis of NPs (Gebreslassie and Gebretnsae, 2021). Under these approaches there are three methods for the NPs synthesis: Physical methods, Chemical methods and Biological/Biogenic methods (Kumari et al., 2023a). Figure 4 depicts the commonly used NPs synthetic methods for synthesis of various nanomaterials. The synthesis of NPs in bottom-up method shows reduction of metal ions, nucleation and crystal growth. According to LaMer-Dinegar model, the formation of NPs follows three stages: a) Monomer generation and supersaturation - the precursors react or decompose to give monomer and the concentration rises to supersaturated solution; b) Nucleation - once the critical supersaturation level is exceeded, a rapid burst nucleation occur producing large number of nuclei simultaneously; c) Particle growth - after nucleation stops, the remaining monomer attach to the existing nuclei and the separation of nucleation and growth results in NPs with uniform size distribution (LaMer and Dinegar, 1950; Whitehead et al., 2021). This fundamental nucleation growth mechanism governs the synthesis of NPs. Although, physical and chemical method are commonly used for synthesis of NPs but due to their toxicity and environmental impact, biogenic method is gaining popularity (Kumari et al., 2023b). Here, we will be focussing on bottom-up method as they provide better control and stability, requires less energy, cost-effective, eco-friendly and is suitable for biomedical, agriculture and various nanotechnology applications (Iqbal et al., 2020; Gebreslassie and Gebretnsae, 2021).
2.1 Physical synthesis methods
NPs are synthesized by physical method through top-down approach. The physical synthesis method uses physical force to break down the bulk materials into nanoscale particles, without depending on the chemical reactions. Therefore, it minimizes the risk of contamination and enables the generation of high purity materials with well-defined composition (Vinukonda et al., 2025). The physical synthesis method has several techniques for synthesizing NPs like laser ablation (Kim et al., 2017), arc discharge (Shah and Cui, 2015), high energy ball milling (Yadav et al., 2012), lithography, sputtering (Wender et al., 2013) and electrospinning (Zhang and Yu, 2014). These methods are used for the production of metals, metal oxide, ceramics and composite NPs. Physical methods are widely used in applications like optics, electronics, catalysis ad energy storage due to their excellent crystallinity and controlled composition (Vinukonda et al., 2025). However, the high temperature processes and the need of specialized equipment increases the production cost of NPs through physical method which limits their large-scale sustainability and highlights the need of alternative technique.
2.1.1 High-energy ball milling method
The high-energy ball milling method is a top-down approach widely used for the synthesis of metal, ceramic, alloy and composite NPs. In this method, a powder precursor is kept in a sealed vial with heavy balls. The vial is rotated at high speed which causes the heavy balls to grind the powder precursor into nanoscale material (Yadav et al., 2012). The friction and the impact between the heavy balls and the powder precursor results in the formation of NPs. This process breaks down the precursor material into nanoscale material by mechanical forces which results in size reduction. There are several parameters that have to be controlled for synthesizing NPs with controlled particle size and morphology which includes milling time, ball to powder ratio and rotational speed. Numan and coworkers synthesized ZnO NPs via high-energy ball milling methods which shows this technique is very effective for the production of ultrafine spherical ZnO NPs on large scale and has potential application as antibacterial material (Salah et al., 2011). Due to its scalability and simplicity, it is widely used for synthesis of NPs. However, it has various limitations like broad particle size, contamination due to milling environment, high energy consumption for rotation of vial and agglomeration of NPs. Thus, there is a need for advanced alternative technique for mitigating these limitations.
2.1.2 Laser ablation
Laser ablation is a physical technique in which a laser beam of high energy is used on the surface of target material. The term ablation means the removal of atoms from the surface of material by thermal evaporation. The high energy laser beam when focused on the surface of target material it starts melting and vaporization of that small region of target. The resulting vapor species nucleate and grow into NPs (Kim et al., 2017; Vinukonda et al., 2025). This method can be employed for the formation of high purity NPs. In laser ablation, it is difficult to prevent aggregation of NPs and to precisely control their size and crystal structure due to the Brownian motion of molecules during the formation of NPs (Shahid et al., 2022). Maria and coworkers synthesized Iron oxide NPs using laser ablation technique and found that the when the energy of laser was increased, it ablated the more material resulting in increased particle size and concentration. They also explored hyperthermia application and found that low laser energy better in comparison to high (Rivera-Chaverra et al., 2020). The main drawback of this method is to precisely control the particle size and distribution of NPs. Additionally, high energy consumption and agglomeration of NPs are common problems during the synthesis (Das et al., 2016).
2.1.3 Sputtering
Sputtering method is a physical vapor deposition technique. It is commonly used for thin film and also employed for NPs synthesis under suitable condition. In this method, a low-pressure inert gas (usually argon) is introduced in vacuum chamber which serves as sputtering medium. The argon ions are accelerated towards the target and ejects the atoms from the target surface by momentum transfer. The ejected material condenses and form thin film and aggregates in gas phase for the formation of NPs (Wender et al., 2013; Vinukonda et al., 2025). It has various limitations which affect its applicability and efficiency. The sputtered NPs tends to aggregate resulting in non-uniform coating (Baut et al., 2024). The high energy ion leads to the defect and impurities in NPs, result in altering their optical and electrical properties (Ren et al., 2024). Additionally, the vacuum environment required for the process increases the operational costs (Vinukonda et al., 2025).
2.1.4 Arc-discharge method
Arc-discharge method is a high temperature physical vaporization approach. In this method two conductive electrodes are closely spaced and a high electric current is passed between the two electrodes, which generates a stable electric arc. The intense heat of arc melts the anode material and vaporize it generating a hot plasma containing ions, atoms and small clusters. As the vapor moves forward away form hot plasma, it cool and undergo nucleation and growth of NPs (Ashkarran, 2010; El-Khatib et al., 2018). This method is mainly used for the synthesis of highly crystalline nanomaterials like carbon nanotubes, graphene quantum dots and metal NPs. However, the high energy consumptions, requirement of specialized equipment and difficulty in controlling size distribution still remains the drawbacks for this technique (Das et al., 2016).
2.2 Chemical synthesis methods
NPs are synthesized by chemical method via bottom-up approach. The chemical synthesis method uses organic and inorganic chemicals as a reducing and stabilizing agent for the synthesis of NPs with controlled shape, size and morphology (Banjara et al., 2024). In this method, reducing agents are used to reduce ions, resulting in the metal formation and the stabilizing agent is used to stabilize the dispersive NPs by absorbing on the surface of NPs to prevent agglomeration. Polyethylene glycol (PEG), Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), etc., are some commonly used stabilizing/protecting agents (Kumari et al., 2023a; Yadav et al., 2023). Chemical synthesis method has various technique for the synthesis of NPs including hydrothermal synthesis, solvothermal synthesis (Feng and Li, 2017), microwave-assisted synthesis (Ocampo et al., 2025), sol-gel method (Han et al., 2017), chemical reduction method (Han et al., 2025), thermal decomposition (Kharkwal et al., 2015), co-precipitation method (Ghosh et al., 2014), microemulsion method (Orhan et al., 2025), electrochemical (Hendel and Young, 2016), polyol, and chemical vapor deposition (Yadav et al., 2023). All these methods are based on bottom-up approaches. Some of them are discussed below. Although, chemical methods give excellent scalability and reproducibility, it often depends on the hazardous chemicals like sodium borohydride, dimethylformamide, PVP, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, tetraethyl orthosilicate, hydrazine and many more which generates toxic by product (Ijaz et al., 2020; Kumari et al., 2023a; Namakka et al., 2023; Yadav et al., 2023; Srinivasan and Rana et al., 2024). The use of these chemicals as reducing agents raises toxicological and environmental concern, owing to the generation of toxic byproducts (Baig et al., 2021; Kumari et al., 2023a; Kirubakaran et al., 2025). Hydrazine is itself highly toxic and carcinogenic, the unreacted hydrazine in the effluent arises concern for careful treatment. Hydrolysis of tetraethyl orthosilicate release volatile organic compounds, contributing to flammability. Similarly borate ions generated from the reduction of sodium borohydride, resulting in alkaline wastewater, which require proper treatment before disposal (De Souza et al., 2019; Khan et al., 2019; Zadehnazari et al., 2025). Consequently, it draws the attention towards the alternative biogenic synthesis which maintains the synthetic precision and minimizes the environmental impact (Singh et al., 2023).
2.2.1 Sol-gel method
The sol-gel method is a versatile process used in making various ceramic materials. In a typical sol-gel process, sol is formed from the hydrolysis and polymerization reaction of precursors, which are usually inorganic metal salts or metal organic compounds such as alkoxides. The complete polymerization and loss of solvent leads the transition sol into gel and then the wet gel is converted to ceramic material with further drying and heat treatment (Shahjahan et al., 2017; Namakka et al., 2023). The size, shape and morphology can be adjusted by changing the precursor concentration, pH and temperature (Modrić-Šahbazović et al., 2025). Sol-gel method can be explained in five steps which are hydrolysis, polycondensation, aging, drying and calcination as schematically shown in Figure 5. Recently, an enhanced sol-gel method has been used for tailoring p-type behavior in ZnO quantum dots helps in removing the intermediate molecules in the reaction mixture results in strengthening excitonic emission (Kahraman et al., 2024). Sol-gel method is mostly suited for the synthesis of oxide NPs and porous materials, as it offers the excellent compositional homogeneity and precise control over porosity (Parashar et al., 2020). However, it has various limitation like expensive precursors, long aging time, solvent evaporation losses, shrinkage during drying and high temperature calcination, bounding its sustainability (Constantinoiu and Viespe, 2021; Vinukonda et al., 2025).
2.2.2 Chemical reduction method
Chemical reduction method is one of the approaches for NPs synthesis, particularly metallic NPs. It is a wet chemical method, in which metal salts are reduced by chemical reducing agent for the synthesis of metal NPs which is shown in Figure 6, especially gold and silver NPs. Chloroauric acid (HAuCl4) and silver nitrate (AgNO3) are reduced to their metals by using suitable reducing agents. Size of NPs is stabilized by stabilizing agents such as polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), sodium citrate, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide or polyethylene glycol (Yadav et al., 2023; Han et al., 2025). The chemical reduction method allows to synthesis NPs with controlled morphology. The synthesis of silver NPs (AgNPs) by chemical reduction method using silver nitrate as metal precursor, polyvinylpyrrolidone as stabilizing agents and formaldehyde as reducing agent when added together produces silver colloids with sizes 7–20 nm (Chou and Ren, 2000). Chemical reduction method synthesizes metallic NPs with precise controlled shape and size of NPs. However, it relies on the use of hazardous reducing agents and stabilizers raising concerns about biocompatibility and sustainability. Additionally, it is very difficult to achieve monodispersed NPs, as agglomeration occur during the process (Vinukonda et al., 2025). To overcome these challenges, researchers are investigating greener reducing and stabilizing agents with hybrid synthetic techniques to improve sustainability and efficiency of metallic NPs synthesized by chemical reduction method.
2.2.3 Hydrothermal and solvothermal synthesis
Hydrothermal reactions are defined as a chemical reaction in a closed system at a higher temperature, than boiling point of water (Feng and Li, 2017). These methods can be performed in two ways continuous hydrothermal and batch hydrothermal process as shown in Figure 7 (Yadav et al., 2023). This method exploits the solubility of almost all inorganic substances in water at elevated temperature and pressure (Rosowska et al., 2025). The solvent is not limited to water but also includes solvents such as benzene, and then the process is more appropriately called solvothermal reaction (Feng and Li, 2017). The solvothermal synthesis also includes the use of supercritical fluids as solvents. During the synthesis of NPs, by changing both the chemical and thermal parameters the product system can be tuned to maintain a high simultaneous rate and good size distribution. Aneeta and coworkers synthesized CuInS2 NPs by solvothermal methods by changing various chemical and physical parameters of the reaction and observed variation in size, shape and structure of synthesized NPs (Kharkwal et al., 2014). Quan and coworkers prepared sulphur doped graphene by solvothermal method was used as anode for Na-ion batteries, enhanced battery performance (Quan et al., 2018). NPs synthesized by hydrothermal and solvothermal method have various applications in battery electrodes, advanced ceramics, drug delivery, electronic and optical properties, photocatalysts, sensors, energy conversion, biomedical, environmental remediation, and light emission (Stephen et al., 2025). Different types of NPs such as AgNPs, AuNPs, ZnO NPs, TiO2 NPs, ZnS NPs, CdS NPs, KNbO3 NPs, KTaO3 NPs, SrTiO3 NPs, CuO NPs, BaTiO3 NPs, SrTiO3 NPs, SrTiO3, Fe3O4 NPs (Anaya-Zavaleta et al., 2025), etc., have been successfully synthesized in this way. However, there are various limitations which hinders its scalability and efficiency. It results in the formation of byproduct which affects the purity of NPs (Dhila et al., 2025). The longer reaction time and high pressure and temperature conditions, increases the energy consumptions and not suitable for rapid synthesis (Gupta and Hegde, 2024). The researchers are investigating advanced methods like microwave-assisted hydrothermal synthesis to overcome these problem (Vinukonda et al., 2025).
2.2.4 Microemulsion method
Microemulsions consist of three components which include polar phase–nonpolar phase–surfactant which are thermally stable, transparent, and homogenous. Depending on surfactant, microemulsion consists of a thermodynamically stable system of water in oil or oil in water, acting as nanoreactor for NP synthesis and also providing a controlled and convenient environment for synthesis (Solanki and Murthy, 2011).
Generally, for the synthesis of NPs microemulsion have two synthetic routes: (a) one microemulsion method (b) two microemulsion method (Please refer Figure 8) (Orhan et al., 2025). Further, one microemulsion method can be divided in two types: one microemulsion plus reactant method and energy triggering method, former one is the addition of reactant to microemulsion which already carries a second reactant itself, and later one requires a triggering agent for the nucleation process (Yadav et al., 2023). Whereas, two microemulsion method involves the mixing of two microemulsions having separate reactants in appropriate ratios. These two reactants collides following by intermicellar exchange process and molecular nucleation, resulting in NPs formation (Kumari et al., 2023a). Microemulsion technique is commonly used to synthesize inorganic NPs like AuNPs, AgNPs, PdNPs, Fe3O4 NPs, ZnO NPs, TiO2 NPs, CeO2 NPs, CdS NPs, ZnS NPs, CdSe NPs, CaCo3 NPs, etc. (Malik et al., 2012) Son and coworkers reported the synthesis of Ag/Pd doped SiO2 NPs through the hydrolysis and condensation of metal alkoxides in reverse miscelles. By optimising the rate of condensation and hydrolysis they successfully controlled the size of NPs (Son et al., 2008). Wurtzite ZnO NPs were synthesized by microemulsion method at room temperature using water to surfactants ratio of 5 (Kumar and Rani, 2013). Similarly, water in oil microemulsion approach using ferric nitrate and ferrous sulfate as precursor for the synthesis of magnetite (Fe3O4) and silica coated magnetite (Fe3O4) NPs. They investigated the antimicrobial activities of synthesized magnetite (Fe3O4) and silica coated magnetite (Fe3O4) NPs against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and Bacillus subtilis bacteria and shows a better result (Asab et al., 2020). Despite the benefits it has various drawbacks like the generation of byproduct is the common problem affecting the purity of NPs, difficulty in precise control over particle size and distribution and high cost of surfactants make it difficult for industrial production (de La Taille et al., 2025). To overcome these challenges, green surfactants and microwave-assisted microemulsion method are being explored to improve the sustainability and efficiency of the technique (Vinukonda et al., 2025).
2.2.5 Co-precipitation method
Co-precipitation method is a solvent displacement technique, particularly synthesizing metal oxide NPs. It involves the addition of base (like NaOH or NH4OH) in the solvent (like ethanol, hexane and acetone) containing the homogenous mixture of metal oxides. This solution is stirred and allowed to precipitate for a period of time, resulting in the fabrication of more stable NPs (Yadav et al., 2023) as shown in Figure 9. Rao and others synthesized CdS NPs for investigating its various properties and characteristics (Rao et al., 2011). Petcharoen and Sirivat synthesized magnetite NPs using co-precipitation method. They used NH4OH as precipitating agent and controlled the size of NPs by reaction temperature and surface modification which makes it suitable for various biomedical applications. And, also the surface modification can enhance the suspension ability of magnetite NPs over a week (Petcharoen and Sirivat, 2012). Dasaradhudu and Srinivasan used silver nitrate and trisodium citrate for the synthesis of silver NPs using chemical co-precipitation method and further investigated that these synthesized NPs can be used in cancer treatments (Dasaradhudu and Arunachalam Srinivasan, 2020). ZnO NPs are also synthesized by co-precipitation method with better structural and optical properties which can be used in various applications (Ghosh et al., 2022). The co-precipitation method can be performed in mild conditions and has low-cost synthesis which is scalable for industrial production, but it has various drawbacks like NPs aggregate during precipitation, precipitation of impurities and difficulty in precise control over particle size, shape and crystallinity (Sumanth Kumar et al., 2018; Gupta and Hegde, 2024; Muñoz-Leon et al., 2025).
2.2.6 Chemical vapor deposition (CVD)
Chemical Vapor Deposition also known as chemical vapor condensation, chemical vapor precipitation, chemical vapor synthesis and chemical vapor reaction. In CVD, the vaporized precursors are introduced into a CVD reactor and absorbed onto a substance held at an elevated temperature. These absorbed molecules either get thermally decomposed or react with other group vapours to form crystals. This method consists of three steps: (a) mass transport of reactant to the grown surface through a boundary layer by diffusion (b) chemical reaction on the growth surface (c) removal of the gas-phase reaction by product from the growth surface (Kumari et al., 2023a). Nucleation in the gas phase is homogenous and nucleation in the substrate is heterogenous. For enhancing the reaction rate, transition metal particles (like Fe, Co and Ni) are commonly used as catalysts (Marciello et al., 2016; Kumari et al., 2023a). Deposition of material depends on reaction rate, temperature and precursor as well. The schematic representation of synthesis of NPs from CVD method is shown in Figure 10. Jin and coworkers synthesized Cr doped ZnO NPs using chemical vapor synthesis by using zinc acetylacetonate and chromium acetylacetonate as precursors (Jin et al., 2007). Polarz and others reported the synthesis of ZnO NPs by chemical vapor synthesis method. They used tetrameric alkyl-alkoxy zinc as precursor. ZnO NPs were chemically formed via gas-phase transformation (Polarz et al., 2005). CVD produces highly pure NPs with excellent control over morphology and composition and also capable of coating complex surfaces. However, it has various limitations, as high temperature is required, it uses toxic and corrosive precursor and operating cost is relatively high with hazardous byproducts (Choy, 2003; Sumanth Kumar et al., 2018; Mohammadi et al., 2021).
2.2.7 Microwave-assisted synthesis
Microwave-assisted synthesis uses microwave radiation for enhancing the chemical reaction, shortening the reaction time and maintaining the temperature required for the synthesis of NPs, schematically represented in Figure 11. This is the most widely used technique due to its short duration capability comparing other methods (Nandhini et al., 2025). This technique is also used in biogenic synthesis methods making it convenient for overall synthesis process (Kumar A. et al., 2020; Kumari et al., 2023a). Herring and other researchers reported the change in morphology of Fe3O4 NPs by changing the microwave irradiation time, they used oleylamine and oleic acid with the precursor material for synthesis of metal ferrite through microwave irradiation (Herring et al., 2013). ZnO NPs were synthesized via microwave assisted synthesis. They found that zinc acetate and oleic acid in same condition, heating for 30 s produces cubic NPs and heating for 60 s gives ZnO nanorods (Herring et al., 2013). Microwave assisted synthesis allows to fabricate NPs with controlled morphology. Hasanpoor and others synthesized ZnO NPs by microwave assisted synthesis. They investigated that by increasing the reaction time, needle shaped ZnO NPs are obtained and by increasing the power of microwave, flower shaped NPs are obtained (Hasanpoor et al., 2015). Deepa and others synthesized poly (3,4-ethylenedioxypyrrole) Ag/Au nanocomposites. They found that Ag/Au NPs are embedded in polymer and shows better electrical conductivity, better charge transfer and increases light absorption resulting in better electrochromic switching (Deepa et al., 2011). Microwave-assisted synthesis is widely used for NPs synthesis due to its short reaction time, uniform heating and improved control over particle size and morphology (Hasanpoor et al., 2015). Despite these advantages, it has various drawbacks which affect its effectiveness. One of the major drawbacks is that uniform heating becomes very difficult in large-reaction mixture which makes large scale production very challenging and the rapid heating sometimes results to particle agglomeration. Additionally, the initial cost of microwave reactor is relatively high which increases the overall cost of production (Jabbar Khan et al., 2025; Starvaggi and Ettari, 2025).
2.2.8 Thermal decomposition
Thermal decomposition is one of the best methods for synthesis of monodispersed NPs. In this technique the chemical breakdown of metal particles is done by heating the metal precursor in solvent, particularly at extremely high temperature thus, resulting in the synthesis of NPs (Singh et al., 2020; Yadav et al., 2023; Höfgen and Bandyopadhyay, 2025) as shown in Figure 12.
Niasari and others synthesized Mn3O4 NPs using thermal decomposition method. They used bis(salicylidiminato) manganese (II) as precursor in oleyl amine and triphenylphosphine for synthesis of Mn3O4 NPs (Salavati-Niasari et al., 2008). Researchers investigated various paramters for the synthesis of iron oxide NPs by thermal decomposition method and explored which is the best suited kinetic controlled approach for particular applications (Hufschmid et al., 2015). Similarly, Unni and others synthesized iron oxide NPs using thermal decomposition method and investigated the magnetic properties that can lead to the advancement in magnetic applications (Unni et al., 2017). Kharkwal and others synthesized AgInS2 colloidal NPs by using metal xanthate at 110 °C via thermal decomposition method. They found that when we change the solvent and capping agent the phase of AgInS2 NPs changes from tetragonal to rod-shaped particles and shows photoluminescence properties (Kharkwal et al., 2015). Thermal decomposition used for synthesis of NPs provide precise control over shape and size. However, it has various disadvantages that alters its efficiency. The high temperature requirement limits the selection of precursor, due to the degradation of material in high temperature. The use of toxic chemicals and unwanted byproducts during the synthesis process affects the purity of NPs. To overcome these challenges, researchers are investigating to develop hybrid synthesis techniques (Varanda et al., 2019; Vinukonda et al., 2025).
Table 1 depicts the comprehensive data table of NP systems using different synthetic strategies. The chemical synthesis techniques have a great advantage in controlling the shape and size of the synthesized NPs by altering different reaction parameters which includes concentration, temperature, pressure, pH, reaction time and precursor, this will influence the properties of NPs. The reducing or stabilizing agent plays an important role in the size distribution of NPs. As reported, AgNO3 and sodium citrate together produce a wide range of sizes of silver NPs, sodium citrate shows dual behaviour of reducing as well as stabilizing the NPs (Riascos et al., 2025). The shape and morphology of silver NPs are reported to differ in choosing the reducing agent, silver salt precursor, capping agent and the technique used for the synthesis. Various shapes have been generated by altering all the above parameters such as nanorods, nanoflowers, nanospheres, nanobars, triangular bipyramids, nano-decahedron, nanoprisms, and nanocubes (Jose and Porel, 2025). Inspite of resulting controlled shape, size and morphology in synthesis of NPs, chemical synthesis method still has various limitations. Mainly the toxic byproducts which are obtained during the synthesis process or after the process. These toxic byproducts are the major concern for the researches and also pollute the ecosystem. Many chemical synthesis methods make use of various hazardous chemicals. The solvents and reagents required for the synthesis are very expensive. Additionally, the non-biodegradable category of reducing and stabilizing agent leads to the harmful effect in the organism and their accumulation disturbs the ecosystem (Mohammed et al., 2025).
TABLE 1. Comprehensive Data Table of NP Systems using different synthetic strategies.
| NP system | Synthesis methods | Size | Morphology | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ag | Sol-gel | 11 nm | Spherical | Shahjahan et al. (2017) |
| Ag | Chemical Reduction | 14 nm | - | Shenava (2013) |
| Ag | Chemical Reduction | 12–16 nm | Spherical | Angelescu et al. (2012) |
| Ag | Co-precipitation | ∼5.5 nm | - | Dasaradhudu and Arunachalam Srinivasan (2020) |
| Ag | Microemulsion | 6.5–9.4 nm | Spherical | Solanki and Murthy (2011) |
| Ag2S | Sol-gel | 30–60 nm | Thin film | Cui et al. (2015) |
| Ag2S | Hydrothermal | 70–90 nm | Rice-shaped | Chen and Gao (2006) |
| Au | Microemulsion | 6.5–15.6 nm | Spherical | Rajapantulu and Bandyopadhyaya (2021) |
| Au-MUTEG | Microemulsion | 7–9 nm | Spherical | Salabat and Mirhoseini (2018) |
| CaTiO3 | Sol-gel | 49.2 nm | Irregular | Han et al. (2017) |
| CaTiO3 | Hydrothermal | 43.8 nm | Irregular | Han et al. (2017) |
| CdMoO4 | Microwave Assisted | 42.5 nm | Porous structure | Vivas et al. (2025) |
| CdWO4 | Microwave Assisted | 300 nm | Irregular | Vivas et al. (2025) |
| Co3O4 | Co-precipitation | 58 nm | Spherical | Abdallah and Awad (2020) |
| Cr5Te8 | CVD | 1.2–10 nm | Triangles/Hexagons | Chen et al. (2022) |
| CrSe | CVD | 2.5 nm | Triangle | Zhang et al. (2019) |
| Cu | Hydrothermal | 6 nm | Sphere | Feng et al. (2015) |
| Cu | Hydrothermal | 11 nm | - | Feng et al. (2015) |
| Cu | Chemical Reduction | 71–85 nm | Quasi-angular | Kobayashi et al. (2011) |
| Cu-In | Chemical Reduction | 10–100 nm | Thin film | Chang et al. (2011) |
| Ironene | CVD | 7–8.6 nm | Triangle | Li et al. (2022) |
| Magnetite | Co-precipitation | 10–40 nm | Spherical | Petcharoen and Sirivat (2012) |
| Magnetite | Co-precipitation | ∼30 nm | Spherical | Al-Madhagi et al. (2023) |
| MgH2 | Microwave Assisted | 5–17 nm | - | Ocampo et al. (2025) |
| MnFe2O4 | Microwave Assisted | 60–75 nm | Spherical and Rectangular | Shih and Tseng (2025) |
| MnO2 | Hydrothermal | 5–15 nm | Belt | Li et al. (2012) |
| NbTe2 | CVD | 4.5 nm | Triangular | Li et al. (2018) |
| SnO2 | Sol-gel | 16–32 nm | - | Aziz et al. (2013) |
| TaTe2 | CVD | 3 nm | Triangular | Li et al. (2018) |
| TiO2 | Sol-gel | 7 nm | Spherical | Vijayalakshmi and Rajendran (2012) |
| TiO2 | Sol-gel | 85 nm | Thin Film | Peerakiatkhajohn et al. (2011) |
| TiO2 | Hydrothermal | 17 nm | - | Vijayalakshmi and Rajendran (2012) |
| VTe2 | CVD | 8 nm | Hexagonal | Li et al. (2018) |
| WO3 | Sol-gel | 6.4–39.3 nm | - | Susanti et al. (2014) |
| ZnO | Sol-gel | 70 nm | Nanotubes | Yue et al. (2013) |
| ZnO | Sol-gel | 20–350 nm | Spherical to rod like | Mayekar et al. (2013) |
| ZnO | Co-precipitation | 39–40 nm | Hollow-rod | Fabbiyola et al. (2015) |
| ZrO2 | Hydrothermal | 20–30 nm | Spherical | Li et al. (2013) |
2.3 Biogenic synthesis method
Biogenic synthesis is an eco-friendly and green approach for the synthesis of NPs, metal and metal oxide NPs biosynthesis uses bottom-up approach by involving reduction of metal salts by natural reducing agent. Biogenic materials like plants, microorganisms and biomolecules provide a safer route for the production of NPs having enhanced properties which makes them more convenient for biomedical applications. As compared to physical and chemical methods the biogenic method has many benefits as it is eco-friendly, non-toxic, more sustainable and economical. In biogenic methods the biogenic materials are used as capping, reducing and stabilizing agents which helps to avoid the use of toxic chemicals and harmful reagents (Saravanan et al., 2021). Biogenic methods use microbes like bacteria (Al-Tameemi et al., 2025), algae (de Almeida et al., 2025; Rafee et al., 2025; Savitri et al., 2025), fungi (Clarance et al., 2020; Alhadrami et al., 2025), yeast (El-Khawaga et al., 2025; Faaiza Naaz et al., 2025) and virus (Malik et al., 2023), biomolecules: DNA, RNA and proteins (Malhotra and Alghuthaymi, 2022) and extracts from leaves, stem, roots, flowers, seeds, fruits, peels and bark (Naikoo et al., 2021; Al-darwesh et al., 2025; Hayat et al., 2025; Kirubakaran et al., 2025; Lekkala et al., 2025; Oluwaniyi and Oyewo, 2025). All these biogenic materials contain various phytochemical constituents which helps in replacing the chemical reagents which are used as reducing, capping or stabilizing agents. Thus, using these materials under suitable conditions by maintaining the temperature, pressure, concentration and other NPs can be synthesized by approaching through biogenic synthesis (Kulkarni and Muddapur, 2014; Sharma D. et al., 2019; Jadoun et al., 2021; Koul et al., 2021; Samuel et al., 2022; Ying et al., 2022; Banjara et al., 2024; Osman et al., 2024). Biogenic synthesis can be generally classified in three types: (a) Biogenic synthesis using microorganisms, (b) Biogenic synthesis using Biomolecules and (c) Biogenic synthesis using plants.
2.3.1 Biogenic synthesis using microorganisms
Bacteria, algae, fungi, yeast and viruses are small organisms which are assumed as nano-factories having wide potential as eco-friendly, non-toxic, cost effective and low energy consumption for the synthesis of NPs (Gebreslassie and Gebretnsae, 2021). Biogenic synthesis of NPs using microorganisms can be categorised as intracellular and extracellular methods, which depends on the process of NPs synthesis. If metal ions are transported in microbial cell for the formation of NPs, then it is known as intracellular method, whereas if metals ions are trapped on surface of cells, then it is known as extracellular methods. The microorganism consists of various enzymes that help in reducing and capping metals. The reductase enzyme plays a crucial role in reducing metal for the synthesis of NPs (Ijaz et al., 2020; Koul et al., 2021). The microbial reduction starts when the negatively charged groups present on microbial cell surface or the extracellular polymers which are secreted by microorganisms attracts the metal ions from the precursor solution (Kumarasamy et al., 2007; Wilkinson et al., 2025). Subsequently, the enzymes known as oxidoreductases (like nitrate reductase in some microbes) transfers the electron from electron-rich molecules likes NADH and NADPH to the metal ions (Kumarasamy et al., 2007). These electron rich molecules are generated inside the cell by normal metabolic processes. This enzymatic electron transfer reduces the metal ions to their metal atoms, which undergoes nucleation and growth of NPs (Iravani, 2011; Singh et al., 2016; Dhaka et al., 2023). According to Kumar and others AgNPs were synthesized by silver nitrate and Fusarium oxysporum. They found that the enzyme, nitrate reductase obtained from F. oxysporum is responsible for the reduction of silver ions (Anil Kumar et al., 2007). The extracellular method of NP synthesis by microorganisms has received much attention then the intracellular method, as it eliminates the several steps of centrifugation, purification and recovery of NPs used in intracellular method (Singh et al., 2016). Moreover, these microbes release various biomolecules like proteins, lipids and polysaccharides, which act as capping and stabilizing agents (Dhaka et al., 2023). The amino, hydroxyl, thiol and carboxyl group present in these biomolecules bind to the NPs surface as a capping and stabilizing agent which lowers the surface free energy of NPs and prevents agglomeration (Sidhu et al., 2022). Thus, it helps in determining the shape, size and stability of the NPs synthesized by biogenic route (Kumarasamy et al., 2007). The schematic representation of preparation of NPs by biogenic synthesis method using microorganisms is shown in Figure 13.
Table 2 shows the comprehensive data table of biogenic synthesis of NPs. Researchers used Bacillus subtilis, E. coli, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae for the biosynthesis of silver NPs and explored its cytotoxicity and antimicrobial properties and found that it shows a dose dependent effect and have high toxicity (Altinsoy et al., 2019). Vadyanathan and coworkers used B. licheniformis for biosynthesis of silver NPs (Vaidyanathan et al., 2010). Kouhkhan and others biosynthesized Copper oxide NPs by using Lactobacillus casei and explored their cytotoxicity effect on cancer cells and antibacterial properties (Mehri et al., 2020). Li and others investigated Deinococcus radiodurans for the biosynthesis of gold NPs and shows antibacterial effect against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus and can be used in biomedical applications (Li et al., 2016). Researchers used Fusarium solani for the synthesis of gold NPs which exhibited cytotoxicity against cervical and human breast cancer cells. Thus, showing a safer and versatile biomedical applications (Clarance et al., 2020). Wang and others green synthesized silver NPs using Aspergillus sydowii and explored its antifungal activity against clinical pathogenic fungi (Wang et al., 2021). Similarly, Xue and others synthesizes silver NPs using Arthroderma fulvum and investigated its antifungal activity against Candida, Aspergillus and Fusarium and found to be more effective in Candida (Xue et al., 2016). Many more reports regarding the synthesis of NPs from microorganisms including Aspergillus tamarii (Radhakrishnan et al., 2021), Pleurotus ostreatus (Eldomany et al., 2018), Jahnula aquatica (Mohamed, 2020), Ganoderma neo-japonicum (Smirnov et al., 2023) and Aspergillus terreus (BalaKumaran et al., 2022), have been reported. Further, they have been investigated for various antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant and various cytotoxic activities and can be explored for different biomedical, agriculture and other applications. The biogenic synthesis of NPs using microorganisms has emerged as a promising method. It reduces the use of toxic and hazardous chemicals and minimizes the toxic byproducts. It increases the antibacterial property of NPs making them the best candidate for antimicrobial coatings and biomedical applications (Iravani, 2011; Singh et al., 2016; Vinukonda et al., 2025; Ahmed et al., 2026).
TABLE 2. Comprehensive data table of biogenic synthesis of NPs.
| Species | NPs | Size | Shape | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fungi | ||||
| A. arvensis | Se | 150–550 nm | Spherical | Vetchinkina et al. (2019) |
| A. arvensis | Si | 30–60 nm | Mesoporous | Vetchinkina et al. (2019) |
| A. arvensis | Ag | 10–20 nm | Spherical | Vetchinkina et al. (2019) |
| A. arvensis | Au | 5–50 nm | Spherical | Vetchinkina et al. (2019) |
| A. bisporus | Se | 100–250 nm | Spherical | Vetchinkina et al. (2019) |
| A. bisporus | Si | 30–100 nm | Spherical | Vetchinkina et al. (2019) |
| A. bisporus | Ag | 10–20 nm | Spherical | Vetchinkina et al. (2019) |
| A. bisporus | Au | 5–50 nm | Spherical | Vetchinkina et al. (2019) |
| Aspergillus niger | ZnO | 15–35 nm | Hexagonal | Mohamed et al. (2019) |
| Aspergillus niger | ZnO | 20–35 nm | Hexagonal rods | Abdelkader et al. (2022) |
| Aspergillus sydowii | Ag | 1–24 nm | Spherical | Wang et al. (2021) |
| Cladosporium clad osporioides | Ag | 30–60 nm | Spherical | Manjunath Hulikere and Joshi (2019) |
| Cortinarius sp | ZnO | 20–50 nm | Spherical | Fazal et al. (2025) |
| Fusarium chlamydosporum | Au, ZnO | 10–35 nm | Spherical | Hammad et al. (2025) |
| Fusarium chlamydosporum | ZnO | 10–35 nm | Hexagonal | Hammad et al. (2025) |
| Fusarium oxysporum | Ag | 10–15 nm | Spherical | El-Sharkawy et al. (2025) |
| Fusarium solani | Au | 20–60 nm | Spherical | Clarance et al. (2020) |
| G. frondosa | Se | 20–50 nm | Spherical | Vetchinkina et al. (2019) |
| G. frondosa | Si | 5–15 nm | Spherical | Vetchinkina et al. (2019) |
| G. frondosa | Ag | 10–20 nm | Spherical | Vetchinkina et al. (2019) |
| G. frondosa | Au | 5–50 nm | Spherical | Vetchinkina et al. (2019) |
| G. lucidum | Se | 20–50 nm | Spherical | Vetchinkina et al. (2019) |
| G. lucidum | Si | 50–100 nm | Spherical | Vetchinkina et al. (2019) |
| G. lucidum | Ag | 10–20 nm | Spherical | Vetchinkina et al. (2019) |
| G. lucidum | Au | 5–50 nm | Spherical | Vetchinkina et al. (2019) |
| Ganoderma applanatum | Ag | 15–45 nm | Spherical | Jogaiah et al. (2019) |
| L. edodes | Se | 50–150 nm | Spherical | Vetchinkina et al. (2019) |
| L. edodes | Si | 50–100 nm | Spherical | Vetchinkina et al. (2019) |
| L. edodes | Ag | 10–20 nm | Spherical | Vetchinkina et al. (2019) |
| L. edodes | Au | 5–50 nm | Spherical | Vetchinkina et al. (2019) |
| Lepista sordida | Ag | 10–30 | Spherical | Khalil et al. (2025) |
| P. ostreatus | Se | 50–150 nm | Spherical | Vetchinkina et al. (2019) |
| P. ostreatus | Si | 5–15 nm | Spherical | Vetchinkina et al. (2019) |
| P. ostreatus | Ag | 10–20 nm | Spherical | Vetchinkina et al. (2019) |
| P. ostreatus | Au | 5–50 nm | Spherical | Vetchinkina et al. (2019) |
| Penicillium chrys ogenum | ZnO | 9–35 nm | Hexagonal | Mohamed et al. (2021) |
| Penicillium chrys ogenum | CuO | 10.5–59.7 nm | Spherical | Mohamed et al. (2021) |
| Penicillium citrinum | Au | ∼100 nm | - | Manjunath et al. (2017) |
| Penicillium oxalicum | SiO2 | 20–50 nm | Spherical | Kaabo et al. (2025) |
| Pleurotus spp. | ZnO | 12–45 nm | - | Bhardwaj et al. (2020) |
| Pleurotus spp. | Ag | 12–45 nm | - | Bhardwaj et al. (2020) |
| Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum) | Ag | 20–40 nm | Spherical | Aygün et al. (2020) |
| Talaromyces funiculosus | Ag | 10–40 nm | Spherical | Mohanta et al. (2022) |
| Termitomyces heimii | CdS | 3–5 nm | Wurtzite | Tudu et al. (2021) |
| Algae | ||||
| Chlamydomonas reinhardtii | CuO | 180 nm | Sphere | Nguyen et al. (2018) |
| Cystoseira baccata | Au | 8.4 nm | Spherical | González-Ballesteros et al. (2017) |
| Laurencia papillosa | Ag | 20–40 nm | Mostly spherical | El Shehawy et al. (2023) |
| Limnospira fusiformis | TiO2 | ∼30 nm | Spherical | Thajuddin et al. (2025) |
| Spirulina platensis | Ag | 5.7 nm | Spherical | Al-Badwy et al. (2023) |
| Ulva lactuca | Ag | 3.89–55 nm | Spherical | Amin (2020) |
| Ulvophyte sp. | Ag | 10–35 nm | Irregular to spherical | Hamida et al. (2023) |
| Gelidium pusillum | Au | 12 nm | Spherical | Jeyarani et al. (2020) |
| Bacteria | ||||
| A. brasilense | Se | 40–200 nm | Spherical | Vetchinkina et al. (2019) |
| A. brasilense | Si | 100–200 nm | Spherical | Vetchinkina et al. (2019) |
| A. brasilense | Ag | 10–80 nm | Irregular Spherical | Vetchinkina et al. (2019) |
| A. brasilense | Au | 5–50 nm | Spherical | Vetchinkina et al. (2019) |
| Bacillus cereus | Ag | 45.4 nm | Spherical | Alfryyan et al. (2022) |
| Bacillus cereus | Ag | 90.8 nm | Polygon | Alfryyan et al. (2022) |
| Bacillus vallismortis | Ag | 44–77 nm | Spherical | Das et al. (2019) |
| Cupriavidus metallidurans | Au | 15.5 nm | Triangular | Montero-Silva et al. (2018) |
| Cuprividus sp. | Ag | 10–50 nm | Spherical | Ameen et al. (2020) |
| Lactobacillus acido philus | Se | 2–15 nm | - | Alam et al. (2020) |
| Lysinibacillus boronitolerans | Ag | ∼20 nm | Spherical | Bhatia et al. (2021) |
| Paracoccus haeundaensis | Au | 20.93–24.49 nm | Spherical | Patil et al. (2019) |
| Streptomyces plicatus | ZnO | 21.72–26 nm | Spherical | Kalaba et al. (2021) |
2.3.2 Biogenic synthesis using biomolecules
Different biomolecules including DNA, RNA, viruses, proteins, diatoms, and membranes are widely used as biomolecular templates and reducing agent for the biogenic synthesis of NPs. In this method, the metal ions present in precursor solution form complexes with the functional groups on the biomolecules (Sardar and Mazumder, 2019; Xu et al., 2024). The electron-rich biomolecules then reduce the metal ion to neutral metal atoms by donating electrons to coordinated metal ions. This electron transfer is accompanied by the oxidation of biomolecules, like phenolic group converts to quinone (Joyner, 2021; Chaudhary et al., 2026). Subsequently, the metal atom aggregates to form stable nuclei that grows into NPs. Many researchers reported that these biomolecules can be used as template to synthesize NPs (Ahmed et al., 2026). DNA is considered as a promising bio-template for transition metal ions having strong affinity. It provides a structured surface that directs nucleation and growth of NPs. Kundu and Nithiyanantham used DNA for the synthesis of ZnO NPs which can be used as anode in dye-sensitized solar cell (Kundu and Nithiyanantham, 2014). Ede and others synthesized β-MnO2 NPs using DNA as scaffold. They observed that by changing the ratio of DNA and manganese salt the shape and size of NPs changes from flakes to wire and also, the flakes-shaped NPs shows higher capacitance and better battery capacity in comparison to wire-shaped NPs (Ede et al., 2014). DNA with self-assembly and molecular recognition capabilities helps to create novel NPs used in various application including optical sensors (Kundu et al., 2009), circuits (Pal et al., 2011a), batteries (Meng et al., 2022), biomedical (Wang et al., 2013), electrical storage devices (Cheng and Bae, 2024), nanodevices (Kundu and Liang, 2008), electronic devices (Kundu et al., 2009; Pal et al., 2011b) etc. Shabani and others synthesized Au NPs using keratinase which shows antibacterial effect against Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-negative Escherichia coli bacteria (Gholami-Shabani et al., 2015). Bhumkar and others synthesized chitosan reduced Au NPs in higher concentration of chitosan which shows no aggregation. Chitosan reduced Au NPs helps in controlling postprandial hypergycemia when loaded with insulin (Bhumkar et al., 2007). Table 3 depicts the comprehensive overview on NPs using numerous biomolecule templates. Biomolecule-mediated synthesis of NPs have various advantages with excellent biocompatibility. Ecofriendly reaction conditions, avoids the use of hazardous reducing agents. However, the reproducibility and limited control over NPs size and morphology remains challenge (Singh et al., 2016; Sardar and Mazumder, 2019).
TABLE 3. Comprehensive Overview on NPs using Numerous Biomolecule Templates.
| NPs | Biomolecules template | Size | Morphology | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ag NPs | Aptamers | 50 nm | Spherical | Abbaspour et al. (2015) |
| Au NPs | DNA | 45–80 nm | Spherical | Sohn et al. (2011) |
| Au NPS | DNA | 5–30 nm | Spherical | Chinen et al. (2015) |
| Au NPs | Pepsin | 10–30 nm | - | Höldrich et al. (2016) |
| Au NPs@Fe3O4 NPs | Trypsin | 120–150 nm | Spherical | Cao et al. (2016) |
| Calcium phosphate NPs | Plasmid DNA | 20–50 nm | Spherical | Cao et al. (2011) |
| Fe3O4 NPs | Mussel adhesive protein | 80–100 nm | Spherical | Kim et al. (2015) |
| Fe3O4 NPs | α-amylase, pectinase, cellulose | 20–24 nm | Irregular | Sojitra et al. (2016) |
| Magnesium phosphate NPs | DNA | 30–130 nm | - | Bhakta et al. (2014) |
| Se NPs | D. indusiata polysaccharide | ∼250 nm | Spherical | Liao et al. (2015) |
| Silica NPs | Lysozyme/β-lactoglobulin | 21 nm | Spherical | Meissner et al. (2015) |
2.3.3 Biogenic synthesis using plants
The biogenic synthesis of NPs using plants is an eco-friendly and sustainable approach. In this method different plant parts like leaves, stem, root, flowers, fruits, bark and seeds are used for NPs synthesis (Kuppusamy et al., 2016; Das et al., 2017; Sharma D. et al., 2019; Raj et al., 2022). The extract of these plant parts acts as a reducing and capping agent. The phytochemicals present in these extracts help in reducing the metal ion by converting them into desired NPs. Phytochemicals like alkaloids, polyphenols, flavonoids, terpenoids, phenolic acids, and proteins act as natural reducing and capping agents (Mat Yusuf et al., 2020; Bhati, 2023; Kumari et al., 2023b). These phytochemicals donate electron to the metal ions and reducing them into the neutral metal atom, which aggregates into stable nuclei and subsequently grow into NPs. These phytochemicals not only reduce the metal ion but also stabilizes the metal ion by capping the NPs for further aggregation (Akhtar et al., 2013; Kulkarni and Muddapur, 2014). They adsorb onto the surface of NPs through functional groups present in phytochemicals. Thereby reducing the surface free energy of NPs and prevents aggregation. The mechanism of plant extracts used for biogenic synthesis of NPs is shown in Figure 14.
Ekrikaya and other researchers used blackberry and raspberry extracts for the synthesis of silver NPs and explored its potential for antimicrobial properties towards Enterococcus faecalis and Candida albicans dental pathogens (Ekrikaya et al., 2021). The biogenic synthesis of NPs by using plant extract have higher rate of kinetics, then any other biogenic synthesis method and more often similar to the rate of chemical synthesis methods. Also, plant mediated-NPs are potential cure for different diseases like cancer (Shoeb et al., 2021; Elbagory et al., 2023; Nisha et al., 2024), HIV (Priya et al., 2021; Maduray et al., 2022; Terkimbi et al., 2026), diabetes (Khan et al., 2023; Tiwari et al., 2025; Darwich et al., 2026), malaria (Lokole et al., 2024; Singh et al., 2024), neurodegenerative (Izadi et al., 2024; Behzad et al., 2026), etc. (Kuppusamy et al., 2016). Researchers used Murraya koenigii Spreng leaves extract for the synthesis of gold NPs by treating with HAuCl4 (Alam et al., 2014). Similarly, the plant extract of various plants including Clitoria ternatea (Vanaraj et al., 2017), Justicia glauca ( Karuppiah et al., 2015), Terminalia arjuna (Gopinath et al., 2013), Mangifera indica (Philip, 2010), etc., have been used for the synthesis of gold NPs and further investigated for various applications including environmental remediation, biomedical and agriculture. Table 4 displays the comprehensive overview on NPs synthesis using plant precursors. The biogenic method using plants is widely used technique for the synthesis of NPs. This ecofriendly method reduces the use of hazardous and toxic chemicals and minimizes environmental impact (Aigbe and Osibote, 2024). The phytochemicals present in plant extract not only act as reducing and capping agents, also improves the biocompatibility of synthesized NPs (Ahmed et al., 2026). Furthermore, the use of renewable plant materials and mild reaction conditions makes biogenic synthesis generally more sustainable than traditional chemical methods (Aigbe and Osibote, 2024; Vinukonda et al., 2025).
TABLE 4. Comprehensive Overview on NPs Synthesis using Plant Precursors.
| S. no. | Species | NPs | Size | Shape | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abelmoschus esculentus | Ag | 5.5–32 nm | Spherical | Devanesan and AlSalhi (2021) |
| 2 | Acacia nilotica | Ag | 20–30 nm | – | Jebakumar Immanuel Edison (2013) |
| 3 | Acalypha fruticosa | ZnO | 50 nm | Spherical, hexagonal | Vijayakumar et al. (2020) |
| 4 | Achyranthes aspera L | Ag | 1–30 nm | Spherical | Sharma et al. (2019a) |
| 5 | Acorous calamus | Ag | 31.86 nm | Spherical | Nakkala et al. (2014) |
| 6 | Acorus calamus | Ag | 59.02–60.32 nm | Spherical | Nayak et al. (2015) |
| 7 | Alcea and Thyme | TiO2 | 10 nm | Polyhedron and irregular | Arabi et al. (2020) |
| 8 | Aloe vera | Ag | 70 nm | Triangular | Medda et al. (2015) |
| 9 | Aloe vera | Cu | 40 nm | Spherical | Karimi and and Mohsenzadeh (2015) |
| 10 | Alyscsipur monilifer | Ag | 5–45 nm | Spherical Hexagonal | Kasithevar et al. (2017) |
| 11 | Anacardium occidentale | Cu | <20 | Irregular spherical | Chandra and Khan (2020) |
| 12 | Berberis vulgaris | Ag | 30–70 nm | Spherical | Behravan et al. (2019) |
| 13 | Bunium persicum | Ag | 20–50 nm | - | Rostami-Vartooni et al. (2016) |
| 14 | C. Maxima | Ag | 76.1–76.9 nm | Spherical | Nayak et al. (2015) |
| 15 | Calliandra haematocephala | Ag | 70 nm | Spherical | Raja et al. (2017) |
| 16 | Calotropis gigantea | ZnO | 31 nm | Hexagonal and pyramidal | Kumar et al. (2020b) |
| 17 | Calotropis procera | Ag | 12.33 nm | Spherical | Mohamed et al. (2014) |
| 18 | Camellia sinensis | Pd | 5–8 nm | Spherical | Lebaschi et al. (2017) |
| 19 | Cannabis sativa | Au | 10–35 nm | Spherical | Swain et al. (2016) |
| 20 | Capparis spinosa L | Ag | 5–30 nm | Spherical | Benakashani and Allafchian (2016) |
| 21 | Carica papaya | Ag | 16–20 nm | Spherical | Balavijayalakshmi and Ramalakshmi (2019) |
| 22 | Catharanthus roseus | Ag | 35–55 nm | Spherical | Rajagopal et al. (2015) |
| 23 | Centella asiatica | Ag | 22.3 nm | Spherical | Logeswari et al. (2015) |
| 24 | Cestrum nocturnum | Ag | 20 nm | Spherical | Keshari et al. (2020) |
| 25 | Citrus maxima | Au | 15.7–35.7 nm | – | Yu et al. (2016) |
| 26 | Citrus medica Linn | Cu | 20 nm | Cubical | Shende et al. (2015) |
| 27 | Citrus sinensis | Ag | 28.4 nm | Spherical | Logeswari et al. (2015) |
| 28 | Coriandrum sativum | Ag | 6.45 nm | Spherical | Khan et al. (2018) |
| 29 | Couroupita guianensis Aubl | Ag | 10–45 nm | Spherical | Vimala et al. (2015) |
| 30 | Couroupita guianensis Aubl | Ag | 5–15 nm | Spherical | Vimala et al. (2015) |
| 31 | Croton sparsiflorus | Au | 16.6–17 | Spherical | Boomi et al. (2020) |
| 32 | Cymodocea serrulata | Ag | 15 nm | Spherical | Palaniappan et al. (2015) |
| 33 | Cymodocea serrulata | Ag | 17–29 nm | Spherical | Chanthini et al. (2015) |
| 34 | Cynodon dactylon serrulate | Ag | 5–25 nm | – | Palaniappan et al. (2015) |
| 35 | Desmodium gangeticum | Au | 16 ± 4 nm | Spherical | Ghosh et al. (2020) |
| 36 | Dionaea muscipula | Ag | 5–10 nm | Quasi-spherical | Banasiuk et al. (2020) |
| 37 | Elaeagnus umbellata | Ag | 20 nm | Spherical | Ali et al. (2020) |
| 38 | Eriobotrya japonica | Ag | 3–30 nm | Spherical | Yu et al. (2019) |
| 39 | Erythrina indica | Ag | 20–118 nm | Spherical | Rathi Sre et al. (2015) |
| 40 | Filicium decipiens | Pd | 2–22 nm | Spherical | Sharmila et al. (2017) |
| 41 | Garcinia mangostana | Au | 28–38 nm | Spherical Triangular Hexagonal | Xin Lee et al. (2016) |
| 42 | Genipa Americana | Au | 15–40 nm | Spherical | Kumar et al. (2016a) |
| 43 | Ginkgo biloba L | Cu | 15–20 nm | Spherical | Nasrollahzadeh and Mohammad Sajadi (2015) |
| 44 | Gloriosa superba | CeO2 | 5 nm | Spherical | Arumugam et al. (2015) |
| 45 | Gloriosa superba L | CuO | 5–10 nm | Monoclinic | Naika et al. (2015) |
| 46 | Hagenia abyssinica (Brace) JF. Gmel | Cu | 34.76 nm | Spherical, hexagonal, triangular, cylindrical | Murthy et al. (2020) |
| 47 | Hibiscus sabdariffa | Au | 15–45 nm | Spherical | Zangeneh and Zangeneh (2020) |
| 48 | Iresine herbstii | Ag | 44–64 nm | Cubic | Dipankar and Murugan (2012) |
| 49 | Juglans regia | Cu | 15–22 nm | Spherical | Mehdizadeh et al. (2020) |
| 50 | Ledebouria revoluta | TiO2 | 47 nm | Tetragonal | Aswini et al. (2021) |
| 51 | Lemon | TiO2 | 80–140 nm | Spherical | Nabi et al. (2020) |
| 52 | Leptadenia reticulata | Ag | 50–70 nm | Spherical | Kumara Swamy et al. (2015) |
| 53 | Lithodora hispidula (Sm.) Griseb | Pd | 21.60 nm | Rod | Turunc et al. (2017) |
| 54 | Litsea cubeba | Au | 8–18 nm | Spherical | Doan et al. (2020) |
| 55 | M.Oleifera | Ag | 94.17–95.67 nm | Rectangular | Nayak et al. (2015) |
| 56 | Malus pumila | Ag | 16 nm | – | Ali et al. (2016) |
| 57 | Mentha | Au | 10–100 nm | Triangular Spherical | Jafarizad et al. (2015) |
| 58 | Mentha arvensis | TiO2 | 20–70 nm | Spherical | Ahmad et al. (2020) |
| 59 | Mentha spicata | Ag | 76.4 nm | Spherical | Hashim et al. (2019) |
| 60 | Mimusops elengi | Au | 9–14 nm | Spherical | Majumdar et al. (2016) |
| 61 | Morus nigra | Ag | 15–20 nm | Spherical | Liem et al. (2019) |
| 62 | Nauclea latifolia | Ag | 12 nm | Irregular | Odeniyi et al. (2020) |
| 63 | Nigella sativa L | Pt | 1–6 nm | Spherical | Aygun et al. (2020) |
| 64 | Nyctanthes arbor-tristis | Ag | 50–80 nm | Spherical | Basu et al. (2016) |
| 65 | Ocimum tenuiflorum | Ag | 28 nm | Spherical | Logeswari et al. (2015) |
| 66 | Orobache aegyptiaca | Cu | <50 nm | Spherical | Akhter et al. (2020) |
| 67 | Oryza sativa | Ag | ∼15 nm | Spherical | Liu et al. (2018) |
| 68 | P. benghalensis | Au | 10–50 nm | Spherical | Paul et al. (2015) |
| 69 | Parkia roxburghii | Au Ag | 5–25 nm | Spherical | Paul et al. (2016) |
| 70 | Pelargonium | Au | 10–100 nm | Triangular Spherical | Jafarizad et al. (2015) |
| 71 | Phaseolus vulgaris | CuO | 20.6 nm | Spherical | Nagajyothi et al. (2017) |
| 72 | Pimenta dioica | Au | 13 ± 4 nm | Spherical | Kharey et al. (2020) |
| 73 | Pistacia atlantica | Ag | 10–50 nm | Spherical | Sadeghi et al. (2015) |
| 74 | Pistacia integerrima gall | Au | 20–200 nm | – | Islam et al. (2019a) |
| 75 | Plumeria alba | Ag | 36.19 nm | Spherical | Mata et al. (2015) |
| 76 | Prosopis juliflora | ZnO | 31.80–32.39 nm | Irregular | Sheik Mydeen et al. (2020) |
| 77 | Prunus japonica | Ag | 26 nm | Hexagonal | Saravanakumar et al. (2017) |
| 78 | Quercus brantii | Ag | 6 nm | Spherical | Korbekandi et al. (2015) |
| 79 | Quercus infectoria | Ag | 40 nm | Spherical | Heydari and Rashidipour (2015) |
| 80 | Rosa canina | Pd | 10–33 nm | Spherical | Veisi et al. (2016) |
| 81 | Rosa damascena | Ag | 84–90.08 nm | Spherical | Venkatesan et al. (2014) |
| 82 | Rosa indica | Ag | 23.52–60.83 nm | Spherical | Manikandan et al. (2015) |
| 83 | Rosmarinus officinalis | Pd | 15–90 nm | Semi-spherical | Rabiee et al. (2020) |
| 84 | Rubus glaucus Benth | Ag | 12–50 nm | Quasi spherical | Kumar et al. (2016b) |
| 85 | Rumex hymenosepalus | Ag | 2–40 nm | Hexagonal | Rodríguez-León et al. (2013) |
| 86 | Salix alba | Au | 50–80 nm | – | Islam et al. (2019b) |
| 87 | Salvia spinosa | Ag | 19–125 nm | Spherical | Pirtarighat et al. (2019) |
| 88 | Silybum marianum | Ag | 25 nm | Spherical | Ayad et al. (2019) |
| 89 | Solanum trilobatum | Ag | 26.5 nm | Spherical | Logeswari et al. (2015) |
| 90 | Stevia rebaudiana | ZnS | 8.35 nm | Spherical | Alijani et al. (2019) |
| 91 | Syzygium aqueum | Pd | 5–20 nm | Irregular | Manjare and Chaudhari (2020) |
| 92 | Syzygium cumini | Ag | 65 nm | Spherical | Logeswari et al. (2015) |
| 93 | Syzygium cumini | TiO2 | 11 nm | Spherical | Sethy et al. (2020) |
| 94 | Terminalia cuneata | Ag | 20–50 nm | Spherical | Edison et al. (2016) |
| 95 | Thymus vulgaris | CuO | 23–94 nm | Spherical | Issaabadi et al. (2017) |
| 96 | Trachyspermum ammi | Ag | 87 nm | Triangular | Vijayaraghavan et al. (2012) |
| 97 | Tragia involucrata | Pt | 10 nm | Spherical | Selvi et al. (2020) |
| 98 | Trichoderma harzianum | CdS | 3–8 nm | Spherical | Bhadwal et al. (2014) |
| 99 | Urtica dioica | ZnO | 20–22 nm | Spherical | Bayrami et al. (2020) |
| 100 | Vetiveria zizanioides | Au | 10–35 nm | Spherical | Swain et al. (2016) |
3 Comparative analysis of NP properties by synthesis route
NPs have unique properties (Kirubakaran et al., 2025) owing to their high surface area-volume ratio and tunable physicochemical parameters (Banger et al., 2025) such as size, morphology, crystallinity, stability, surface area, optical properties, conductivity, toxicity, surface chemistry and scalability. Thus, the synthesis route plays a vital role in showing variation in physicochemical parameters which governs different applications. Among various synthesis techniques the most commonly used are chemical and biogenic synthesis. Chemical synthesis technique involves the use of reducing agents (De Souza et al., 2019) like sodium borohydride, ethanol, formaldehyde, hydrazine, oxalic acid, hydrogen peroxide, ascorbic acid, hydroquinone, which provides precise control over size and morphology of synthesized NP but using hazardous chemicals and leaving toxic reduces, arises environmental and health concerns (Chavali and Nikolova, 2019; Zadehnazari, 2025). To overcome this problem a green and eco-friendly biogenic synthesis method is used which requires natural reducing and stabilizing agents like flavonoids, alkaloids, proteins, amino acids, lipids, vitamins, minerals, enzymes and various other phytochemicals (Langellotto et al., 2025) obtained from plant extracts and microbes (Banjara et al., 2024). Biogenic synthesized NPs show excellent biocompatibility and enhance biological activity due to various phytochemicals present. Though it lacks in homogeneity and crystallinity but due to their eco-friendliness, non-toxicity and cost effective (Edo et al., 2025) makes them more desirable for biomedical and environmental applications (Kirubakaran et al., 2025; Wirtu et al., 2025) like industrial waste treatment (Chong et al., 2000; Ma and Zhang, 2008), waste water treatment (Adeleye et al., 2016; Anjum et al., 2019), air purifications (Kim et al., 2025) and soil remediations (Caballero-Mejía et al., 2025; Yayinie et al., 2025). Table 5 shows the comparison of NP systems.
TABLE 5. Comparison of Biogenic and Chemically synthesized NP Systems.
| Parameter | Green synthesis | Chemical synthesis | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Size and Morphology Control | Moderate | High | Green synthesized AgNPs are found 30–60 nm while chemically synthesized were 9–14 nm (Sreelekha et al., 2021) |
| Eco-Friendliness | High | Low | Green synthesized ZnO NPs are eco-friendly compared to chemically synthesized (Mousa et al., 2024) |
| Purity | Variable | High | Chemically synthesized TiO2 NPs shows high purity and uniformity then green method (Olaleru et al., 2025) |
| Surface Activity | High | Moderate | SiO2 NPs synthesized by Rhus coriaria L. shows high surface area then chemically synthesized because of phytochemicals present in Rhus coriaria L. (Rahimzadeh et al., 2022) |
| Cost | Low | Moderate to High | Green approach shows eco-friendly and low cost synthesis of MgO NPs (Akshaykranth et al., 2021) |
| Toxicity | Low | High | Green synthesized AgNPs have less toxic effects when compared to chemically synthesized AgNPs (Younas et al., 2022) |
| Crystallinity | Moderate | High | Chemically synthesized ZnO/CuO nanocomposites shows high crystallinity as green synthesized has broader peaks compared to chemically synthesized nanocomposites (Endeshaw et al., 2025) |
| Scalability | Emerging | Established | Green routes lack in industrial applications due to scalability and scarcity of biological agents (Patwardhan et al., 2018) |
| Stability | Moderate | High | Stability of chemically synthesized AgNPs is more than green synthesized AgNPs but in the period of time stability of chemically synthesized AgNPs decreases faster as compared to green synthesized AgNPs (Mousavi-Khattat et al., 2018) |
Moreover, biogenic methods have been successfully evolved as reported by Dowlath and others biosynthesized FeO NPs shows smaller size 20.9 nm and stability in comparison to its chemically synthesized FeO NPs 42.3 nm in size. Biogenic NPs exhibit excellent characteristics due to capping and stabilizing agents present in biogenic material itself (Dowlath et al., 2021). Similarly, Gokila and others observed size of biosynthesized Fe3O4 NPs ranging 2–80 nm while chemically synthesized Fe3O4 NPs ranging 87–400 nm (Gokila et al., 2021), Jayanthi and co-workers used Tridax procumbens leaf extract for biogenic synthesis of AgNPs and also synthesized AgNPs chemically and concluded that the AgNPs synthesized from leaf extract shows better morphology, small size and have more efficient antimicrobial activity in comparison to their chemically synthesized AgNPs (Jayanthi et al., 2024), but these results are not universally true for all the NPs as green synthesis methods still need to improve the control over size and morphology of NPs. Table 6 shows a critical comparative evaluation of chemical and biogenic NP synthesis method. Although biogenic synthesis is promoted as economically advantageous, robust techno-economic assessments are still lacking (Lo et al., 2021; Louw et al., 2023). The laboratory-scale experiments generally report the lower cost due to replacement of expensive reducing and capping agents by plant extracts. However, the industrial implementation of these experiments introduces additional costs including extract standardization, biomass collection, quality assurance and downstream purification, whereas the conventional chemical synthesis method has advantage of mature industrial infrastructure and well-established process control system (Agrawal et al., 2021; Abegunde et al., 2024; Sammasagi et al., 2025; Patel and Sanap, 2026). The comparison of chemical and biogenic synthesis method should move beyond the competition between efficient and green technologies. Instead of this, the selection of synthesis route should be based on the functional efficiency, structural precision, environmental sustainability, regulatory requirements, production scalability and economic feasibility (Duan et al., 2015; Chormey et al., 2023; Jain et al., 2024). Therefore, the future NPs manufacturing should rely on hybrid strategies, combining reproducibility of chemical method with eco-friendly advantages of biogenic method.
TABLE 6. Critical evaluation of biogenic and chemical NP synthesis routes.
| Parameter | Biogenic synthesis | Chemical synthesis | Critical implication | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Particle Size Distribution | Large size due to variation in metabolite composition of biological source | Small particle size because the reaction parameters are precisely controlled | Uniform particle size is favourable for electronics and catalysis, while large particle can be used in environmental and biomedical applications | Thanh et al. (2014), Singh et al. (2016), Fahim et al. (2024), Cardoso et al. (2025), Syed et al. (2026) |
| Morphology control | It depends on the composition of metabolite present in biological sources | It has precise control over morphology | The chemical synthesis method is advantageous where morphology control is required | Bakshi (2016), Singh et al. (2016), Huang et al. (2019), Paul et al. (2025), Syed et al. (2026) |
| Crystallinity | Moderate to high | High due to particle growth under optimized reaction conditions | High crystallinity enhances the charge transfer in photocatalysis and electronic application, where defect engineering in biogenic NPs can enhance catalytic active sites | Thanh et al. (2014), Alam et al. (2025), Druzian et al. (2026) |
| Reaction Mechanism | Biological resources like flavonoids, terpenoids, alkaloids, proteins, microbial enzymes and biomolecules act as natural reducing agents for synthesis of NPs | Hazardous reducing and stabilizing agents like sodium borohydride, hydrazine, dimethylformamide, etc., are used for synthesis, resulting in nucleation and growth of NPs | Biogenic synthesis is the eco-friendly approach offering sustainability and surface functionality, whereas chemical synthesis gives better process control and superior reproducibility | Thanh et al. (2014), Singh et al. (2016), Harish et al. (2022), Fahim et al. (2024), Rabiee (2025), Ahmed et al. (2026), Syed et al. (2026) |
| Surface Chemistry | Biological resource itself act as the natural capping and stabilizing agents that prevents aggregation | To prevent aggregation, synthetic capping and stabilizing agents like PEG, PVP, citrate, etc., are used | Natural resources enhance colloidal stability and biocompatibility | Schubert and Chanana (2018), Javed et al. (2020), Restrepo and Villa (2021), Samuel et al. (2022), Syed et al. (2026) |
| Environmental Impact | Uses renewable biological resources | Uses hazardous chemicals and solvents, which generates toxic byproducts | Biogenic synthesis minimizes the hazardous chemicals consumption | Fahim et al. (2024), Srinivasan and Rana (2024), Abady et al. (2025), Cardoso et al. (2025) |
| Biomedical suitability | Natural capping agents enhances biocompatibility and reduces cytotoxicity | Toxic reagents and residual surfactants require extensive purification | Biogenic NPs are promising candidate for antimicrobial and drug delivery applications | (Singh et al., 2016; Fahim et al., 2024; Cardoso et al., 2025; Desai et al., 2025; Syed et al., 2026) |
| Commercial maturity | Commercial applications are limited but are expanding in environmental remediation and antimicrobial applications | Widely commercialized in various applications like catalysis, textiles, coatings and paints | Future manufacturing should integrate biogenic methods with chemical methods | Duan et al. (2015), Huanbutta et al. (2024), Jain et al. (2024), Srinivasan and Rana (2024) |
4 Characterization techniques for identification of NPs
There are various techniques which are used in identification of NPs. These techniques tell us about the shape, size, geometry, functional group, crystallinity, composition, stability, optical properties, biological properties, surface charge and surface chemistry of synthesized NPs. Some of essential techniques includes UV-Vis Spectroscopy, X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), MTT assay, Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) assay (Mourdikoudis et al., 2018; Modena et al., 2019; Titus et al., 2019).
4.1 Ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy
UV-Vis Spectroscopy is the type of absorption spectroscopy, in which the electron transition is measured from ground state to excited state. This technique is commonly used for the determination of synthesis of NPs and also for characterization of optical properties of NPs. It uses the light of 200–800 nm (200–400 nm UV and 400–800 nm Visible) wavelength. Figure 15 shows the lock Diagram of UV-Vis spectrophotometer and its working steps.
All the synthesized metal and metal oxide NPs exhibit unique optical properties due to surface plasmon resonance (SPR). SPR is the phenomenon of collective oscillation of e− on the surface of NPs with response to light. The band gap (direct or indirect) of semiconductors can be calculated using UV-Vis spectroscopy. UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy was used to evaluate the optical properties of nanocrystals. It is well known that absorption coefficient (α) is related to the incident photon energy (hν) by the following equation:where E.g., is a band gap, m is a index indicating the type of transition. It is known the value of m, for direct band gap semiconductor is ½, and for indirect band gap semiconductor is 2 (Guha et al., 2003). Shifting of peak value of UV-Vis spectrum to lower and higher wavelength is responsible for the size distribution of synthesized NPs (Abdolkarimi-Mahabadi et al., 2021). The UV-Vis spectroscopy is most informative and accessible characterization technique for linking NPs optical properties to their functional performance. The SPR band for metal NPs provides information about particle shape, size, aggregation state and concentration. Smitha and others found that the broad absorption band with SPR 454 nm, indicates large particle size but when the concentration of citrate was increased SPR shifts toward shorter wavelength, results in decreasing particle size (Smitha et al., 2008). In colorimeter assays and biosensors, even the slight shift in the SPR band shows the biomolecular binding events (Unser et al., 2015). Thus, making this characterization technique an essential instrument for sensor development. In drug delivery and antimicrobial applications, a stable and narrow SPR band generally indicates that the NPs are well-dispersed and can give consistent biological performance. Mlalila and coworkers found that the AgNPs with narrow SPR band shows higher antimicrobial properties than the broader (Mlalila et al., 2017). For semiconductor NPs, the band gap energy is calculated using Tauc plot, which is directly related to the photocatalytic performance in various applications like wastewater treatment, solar energy conversion and air purification. Mohamed and coworkers synthesized ZnO NPs showing 94.5% degradation efficiency of MB Dye with the band gap value of 3.1 eV calculated using Tauc plot (Mohamed et al., 2025). Additionally, the doping or defect engineering can also be aimed by the red shift in the absorption peak. Thus, this technique not only confirms the NPs synthesis but also directs the reaction conditions with application performance.
α hv ∝ E g − hv m
4.2 X-ray diffraction (XRD)
XRD is a powerful, versatile and non-destructive laboratory technique for characterization of nano, thin film and bulk materials. XRD is based on the bombardment of X-rays on the material and calculating the intensity and scattering angles of X-ray that are diffracted by material. XRD provides chemical analysis for phase analysis as well as chemical analysis. By analyzing the diffraction pattern obtained from XRD and comparing it with the known database, researchers can determine structure, size and phase of NPs (Epp, 2016; Mehta et al., 2017). The diffraction pattern obtained by XRD is like a fingerprint for the substance because each substance in a mixture has its own pattern (Sharma et al., 2012). Figure 16 shows the block diagram of X-ray diffractometer. XRD is used for the identification of crystal structure, purity, crystallite size and phase identification of synthesized NPs. The XRD identifies the active phases, since the photocatalytic efficiency and charge carrier separation are strongly affected by phase composition, in photocatalytic applications. Silva and coworkers found that elevated annealing temperature decreases the surface area of TiO2 NPs and produces mixed-phase TiO2 NPs, which exhibits the exceptional photodegradation of dyes (Silva et al., 2018). XRD give information about preferred orientation, crystallite size and crystal defects that controls charge transport characteristics and density of active surface sites in electrochemical and catalytic applications (Hu et al., 2025). Additionally, tracking the changes in the diffraction pattern before and after use, helps to evaluate the structural degradation and stability throughout the operation. Thus, XRD serves as a critical tool for correlating the crystal structure properties with application specific performance.
4.3 Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)
Fourier transform spectroscopy is a measurement where spectra are collected are based on measurements of the temporal coherence of a radiative source, using time domain measurements of the electromagnetic radiation or other type radiation. In FTIR the beam splits in two parts, with one beam pass through the sample (transmission) or alternately reflected while other beam is employed as reference beam (Pasieczna-Patkowska et al., 2025). Figure 17 displays the pictorial representation on working of fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. FTIR technique is based on irradiating the material with IR light to get the absorption and transmission spectrum of a given material. FTIR is used for identification of functional groups present in the given material. This gives a unique fingerprint spectrum of the sample. FTIR is mainly utilized for the characterization of organic materials like functionalization and chemical composition of synthesized NPs (Mohamed et al., 2017; Eid, 2021). In FTIR spectra, the appearance or non-appearance of certain vibrational frequencies gives valuable information about the structure of a particular molecule. Each functional group has specific range of vibrational frequencies and is very sensitive to the chemical environment and thus provides valuable information regarding the presence of certain functional groups in the specific sample for their further characterization (Shukla, 2025). FTIR provides the surface chemistry of NPs, making it important technique for understanding how the NPs interacts with their surrounding environment. In biogenic NPs synthesis, FTIR is essential for confirming the involvement of phytochemicals, enzymes, proteins, amino acids, biomolecules and polysaccharides as reducing, capping and stabilizing agents in NPs formation. In various applications, the colloidal stability, functional performance and biocompatibility are determined by their adsorption onto the surface of NPs (Pasieczna-Patkowska et al., 2025). Suriyakala and others synthesized AuNPs using Jatropha integerrima Jacq. flower extract, they found that the phenolic compound from the extract is responsible for the reduction of gold ions by analysing the FTIR spectra (Suriyakala et al., 2022). FTIR extents much more than just verifying the synthesis of NPs. FTIR is used to confirm the effective conjugation of therapeutic compounds, polymers, antibodies onto NP surfaces for bioimaging, target delivery and biosensing in biomedical applications (Sanità et al., 2020; Pasieczna-Patkowska et al., 2025; Kumar A. et al., 2026). The emergence or elimination of specific functional group confirms the surface functionalization, which is crucial for enhancing targeting specificity, drug loading efficiency and controlled drug release (Chen et al., 2024; Gorohovs and Dekhtyar, 2025). In environmental remediation applications, FTIR is widely used to analyse the adsorption mechanism of pollutants onto NP surfaces. The researchers can determine the functional group participating in binding dyes, heavy metals and other pollutants, by comparing the FTIR spectra taken before and after the adsorption (Garg et al., 2025; Hari Lakshmi et al., 2025). Similarly in photocatalytic applications, FTIR helps monitor the degradation of pollutants by identifying the disappearance of specific functional groups during the photocatalytic reaction (El-Bahy et al., 2025; Muhanny et al., 2026). Thus, by providing the surface modifications and phytochemicals-NPs interactions, FTIR makes it possible to rationally design and optimize the NPs for diverse environmental, biomedical, industrial and agricultural applications.
4.4 Transmission electron microscopy (TEM)
TEM is a powerful technique based on high image resolution and is useful for the study of microstructure, size, morphology and distribution of NPs.
TEM can be utilized for spectroscopic information, diffraction and imaging of samples with high resolution. The electron gun used at the top of TEM helps creating electron that goes through vaccum tube and creates image by taking high voltage beam of electron. An electromagnetic lens is placed to focus on the material. The transmitted elctrons strike at the base of microscape in florescent screen and generates the image (Tang and Yang, 2017). It is used to investigate crystalline defects, grain shape and size, lattice image, orientation of the grains, core-shell structures, aggregation and internal structure of NPs (Inkson, 2016; Tang and Yang, 2017). It also gives direct image of biological samples like, tissues, cells, etc., ranging at nanoscale. Figure 18 shows the block diagram of transmission electron microscopy. In biogenic NPs synthesis, TEM confirms the nucleation and growth of NPs is successfully controlled by the natural reducing agents. The phytochemicals which act as reducing agent can influence the morphology of synthesized NPs by regulating the crystal growth rates (Saraf et al., 2026). Therefore, TEM images provide the effectiveness of these reducing and stabilizing agents. The uniformly-dispersed spherical NPs indicate the effective surface passivation by biological agents, while irregular or aggregated NPs indicates uncontrolled nucleation or inadequate stabilization during synthesis (Baba et al., 2026). In photocatalytic applications, it evaluates crystal facets, morphology, heterojunction interfaces and it also helps in real time imaging in photocatalytic process, which influences the catalytic efficiency. Shuohan and others investigated the photocatalysis of H2 evolution on Cu2O. They found the self-reduction of Cu2O to nano-Cu by in-situ TEM (Yu et al., 2021). Despite its advantages, it has various limitations. Only a small number of particles can be analyzed, sample preparation is time consuming and imaging requires ultrathin specimens under high vacuum (Tang and Yang, 2017). Overall, TEM provides information about the NPs morphology, crystallinity and functional performance which enables the optimization of NPs for environmental, biomedical, catalytic, agricultural and industrial applications.
4.5 Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
SEM is one of the most powerful tools for studying the surface morphology, composition, crystallographic information and topography of the samples.
SEM is a high-resolution imaging technique which produces images of high resolution by using a focused beam of electrons for scanning the surface of material. When the electrons of a beam interact with the particles, it shows a signal that contains various information about the sample which includes composition and surface topography. This technique is widely used for the characterization of surface chemistry of synthesized NPs. SEM helps in measuring size, particle size distribution, shape, surface texture, aggregation and particle arrangement (Inkson, 2016; Akhtar et al., 2018). SEM is used in various fields including nanotechnology (Ijaz et al., 2022), biomedical (Koga et al., 2021), electronics (Maheswaran and Shanmugavel, 2022), etc., Figure 19 shows the block diagram of scanning electron microscopy. In biogenic synthesis of NPs, SEM evaluates the influence of natural reducing and capping agents like proteins, flavonoids, phenolic compounds, alkaloids and tannins on NPs shape, aggregation and dispersion, thereby confirming the effective stabilization. Kirthika and others biosynthesized AgNPs using Parthenium hysterophorus floral extract. The SEM image indicates that the biomolecules present in floral extract act as both reducing and capping agents. It also shows slight aggregation of NPs (Vinu Kirthika et al., 2025). In environmental remediation, SEM examines the surface morphology of nanoadsorbents before and after the adsorption of pollutant on the surface, thus revealing surface roughness, pore structure and contaminant deposition (Vladár and Hodoroaba, 2020; Kumar R. et al., 2026). Although SEM has lower resolution as compared to TEM and cannot reveal internal crystal structures. SEM is an indispensable characterization technique which helps optimize the NP design in catalysis, advanced materials, environmental remediation, biomedical and agricultural applications (Vladár and Hodoroaba, 2020).
4.6 Dynamic light scattering (DLS)
DLS also known as Photon Correlation Spectroscopy (PCS) or Quasi-Elastic Light Scattering (QELS), is a popular radiation scattering technique used to determine the size distribution of particles, molecular weight, zeta potential and aggregation (Babick, 2020). DLS is based on the interaction of NPs with beams of light. Beam of laser light strikes the particles and the intensity of light is detetcted by high-time resolution detector. The brownian motion over time produces the scattered light intensity. DLS enable direct characterization of dispersed particles and provides a real-time observation of dispersion effects (Malm and Corbett, 2019). DLS provides the result in graph and polydispersity index which are then analyzed for particle size distribution, hydrodynamic size, zeta potential and degree of size uniformity of the synthesized NPs (Shukla et al., 2023). Figure 20 displays the block diagram of dynamic light scattering. In biogenic synthesis of NPs, it used to evaluate the effectiveness of natural reducing, capping and stabilizing agents. The biomolecules adsorb onto the surface of synthesized NPs forms a biomolecular corona (Pearson et al., 2014; Zhao et al., 2024). This corona increases the hydrodynamic diameter which is measured by DLS relative to physical diameter as observed by the TEM (Gordillo-Galeano and Mora-Huertas, 2021). Similarly, in environmental remediation and biomedical applications DLS is used to study and optimize the particle size by monitoring the aggregation of NPs, thereby optimizing NPs performances (Rodriguez-Loya et al., 2023). Overall, it enables researchers to develop the structure-stability-performance relationships which support the NPs synthesis with enhanced long-term stability, functional efficiency and industrial applications (Carvalho et al., 2018; Jia et al., 2023).
4.7 MTT assay
MTT stands for 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide. MTT assay is a colorimetric approach that measure the reduction of MTT into voilet-blue colour formazan molecule which is insoluble in water. It is reduced by metabolically active cells and is utilized to evaluate cytotoxicity, cell proliferation and cell viability by investigating the metabolic activity of cells (Ghasemi et al., 2021). MTT assay is widely used to determine cytotoxicity, dose-dependent and biocompatibility of biosynthesized NPs by measuring their metabolic activity and to test their activity on cells (Grela et al., 2018). Researchers generally used MTT assay for determination of biocompatibility, safety, and anticancer activity of synthesized NPs by treating cultured cells with different concentration of synthesized NPs and observe the reduction of MTT to formazan by cells (Younas et al., 2021). The detection of cytotoxicity of NPs makes it promising tool for biomedical and nanotoxicology applications.
4.8 Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assay
MIC is the least concentration of antidrug that prevents the growth of microorganisms. The main purpose of MIC is the quantification of the antimicrobial potential of NPs against microorganisms (Kowalska-Krochmal and Dudek-Wicher, 2021). Figure 21 shows the schematic overview on characterization techniques. The MIC assay is an ISO standardized technique for the testing of antimicrobial susceptibility. The MIC assay, exposes the microbial culture in NP suspensions and after the incubation, the minimum concentration of synthesized NPs is recorded as MIC in which there is no visible growth of microbes. This data results in the antimicrobial effectiveness of synthesized NPs. To study the antidrug inhibitance in microorganism growth this technique is used by diagnostic research and laboratories (Kadeřábková and Mahmood, 2024). MIC assay is important for the determination of antimicrobial potential of synthesized NPs and their effectiveness against microbes.
5 Application-based comparative study
NPs are being applied for various applications like environmental remediation, biomedical, electronics, agriculture and energy applications due to unique physicochemical properties (G et al., 2022). The several synthetic routes offer different NPs with enhanced properties making them suitable for various applications. The functional efficiency of NPs is not only governed by chemical composition but also by their particle size, morphology and surface characteristics (Fröhlich, 2012; Jing et al., 2023; Kumar and Yan, 2025). All these factors collectively determines charge transfer, surface reactivity and stability. The size, morphology and surface characteristics plays a key role in enhancing the catalytic activity, adsorption capacity, biocompatibility and antimicrobial activity (Ankamwar, 2012; Dolai et al., 2021; Lee et al., 2023). In biomedical applications, the size of particles influences the blood circulation and cellular uptake and the morphology of NPs affect the drug loading capacity (Barar, 2015; Elyamany, 2016; Mota et al., 2025). In antimicrobial applications, the small NPs have greater surface area for interaction with micobial cell membranes, which promotes the generation of reactive oxygen species, intracellular penetration and membrane breakdown, resulting in enhanced antimicorbial activity (Dolai et al., 2021; Onotu et al., 2025; Spaolonzi et al., 2026). Whereas the biofunctionalized surfaces promote stronger interactions with microbial membranes, which enhances membrane permeability and antimicrobial performance (Karnwal et al., 2023; Mohammed Ali and Ben Ahmed, 2026). Okeke and others biosynthesized Mg-doped ZnO NPs using piper guineense leaf extract. The sample with smaller size of particle shows better antibacterial and photocatalytic activites. The enhancement in photoctalytic and antibacterial activities is due to large surface area of small NPs and higher surface defects (Okeke et al., 2021). Therefore, controlling these physicochemical parameters is crucial for synthesizing NPs with optimized antimicrobial efficiency, catalytic activity, drug delivery efficiency, adsorption capacity and other application specific functionalities.
5.1 Environmental applications
Environmental remediation is one of most developed applications of NPs because of their exceptional catalytic activity, high specific surface area, redox properties and adsorption capacity. NPs synthesized by both chemical and biogenic methods have shown remarkable efficiency in removing the dyes, heavy metals, pesticides and pharmaceuticals contaminants from air and water (Ahmed et al., 2026; Zhan et al., 2026).
5.1.1 Industrial wastewater treatment
Wastewater treatment is an essential need in today’s world, mainly the drinking water which is being contaminated by heavy metals, industrial waste, dyes, organic and inorganic pollutants making it harmful for consumption (He et al., 2021; Bucs et al., 2022). Industries generate uncleaned wastewater having dyes, pollutants, heavy metals, etc., which is the main factor for affecting soil and water resources (Azanaw et al., 2022; Akter et al., 2023). This untreated wastewater increases TDS, pH, temperature, chlorides, sulphate, phosphate, nitrate, BOD and COD in the sites which are being affected by wastewater (Azanaw et al., 2022). So, there is an urgent demand for water treatment to make sure that everyone has safe and clean water (Arenas-Sánchez et al., 2016). To solve this problem nanotechnology promises the development of various technologies and has potential to minimise the problem. For treating waste water nano-based techniques like photocatalysis, nanofiltration, nano-adsorption, nanocomposites, zeolites and clay are being used (Rathod et al., 2024). The reduction of particle size from 100 nm to below 20 nm increases the surface area to volume ratio which results in increased number of catalytic sites and active adsorption. This is the reason why NPs are emerging in the field of environmental remediation applications. The chemical method generally produces NPs with high catalytic activity due to superior crystallinity and defect engineering. Whereas, biogenic method eliminates the use of hazardous and toxic reagents, reduces the toxic byproduct and require minimum post treatment (Ahmed et al., 2026). Consequently, chemical method is in high demand in industrial catalysis, while biogenic method is preferred for decentralized water purification and sustainable wastewater treatment (Abdel-Fatah, 2018; Saravanan et al., 2021; Zhan et al., 2026).
5.1.1.1 Photocatalysis
Photocatalysis is the acceleration of chemical reaction in the presence of light. The substrate which absorbs the light and acts as catalyst in the chemical reaction is called photocatalysts (Ameta et al., 2018). Photocatalysis has shown a leading edge approach in cleaning the environment (Chimmikuttanda et al., 2022). The formation of reactive oxygen species in presence of UV-Vis light helps in breaking down the chemical structure and promoting reduction of environmental pollutants (Varghese Alex et al., 2020). Figure 22 shows the schematic on photocatalysis. Fatima and others reported biosynthesized FeO NPs by using Conocarpus erectus and chemically synthesized FeO NPs for textile wastewater treatment and investigated their impact in the seed germination of Vigna radiata. They concluded that the biosynthesized FeO NPs are more efficient for photocatalytic wastewater treatment by increasing the photosynthetic pigments and germination parameters as compared to chemically synthesized FeO NPs. Biogenic FeO NPs also shows a positive result in seed germination by 42% and chlorophyll content by 89% as compared to chemically synthesized FeO NPs resulting in 14% and 86% respectively (Batool et al., 2025). Pathak and others synthesized CeO2 NPs by chemical methods and explored the degradation of MB Dye with 76% efficiency. They also found that while increasing the catalyst dose from 0.6 g/L to 0.7 g/L. The degradation rate decreases due to agglomeration of photocatalyst (Pathak et al., 2023). Whereas, CeO2 NPs synthesized via green method using Matricaria recutita by Druzian and others resulted in greater efficiency of 93% for degradation of MB and MO Dyes (Moro Druzian et al., 2023). Similarly, Muthuvel and others biosynthesized CeO2 NPs using Calotropis procera and resulted in 98.64% efficient degradation of MO Dye (Muthuvel et al., 2020). Table 7 depicts the green method to produce eco-friendly NPs for the treatment of industrial wastewater.
TABLE 7. Green method to produce eco-friendly NPs for the treatment of Industrial Wastewater.
| Material | NPs | Size | Shape | Eg (eV) | Efficiency | Application | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actinidia deliciosa | ZnO | 8.2 nm | Spherical and Hexagonal | 3.06 | 96.3% | p – bromophenol | Li et al. (2021) |
| Alchornea laxiflora | ZnO | 29–38 nm | Quasi-hexagonal | 2.5–3.67 | 87% | Congo Red Dye | Ekennia et al. (2021a) |
| Allium Sativum | ZnO | 19 nm | Nanorods | 2.9 | 94% | MB Dye | El Golli et al. (2021) |
| Allium sativum | ZnO | 16 nm | Hexagonal | 2.55 | 95.33% | RB-5 Dye | Younas et al. (2025) |
| Beetroot | ZnO | 42 nm | Hexagonal | 2.63 | 87% | MO Dye | Mousa et al. (2024) |
| Calotropis procera | CeO2 | 21 nm | Spherical | 3.29 | 98.64% | MO Dye | Muthuvel et al. (2020) |
| Conocarpus erectus | FeO | 29 nm | Spherical | - | 92.9%80.3%85.1% | Congo Red DyeSulfatePhosphate | Batool et al. (2025) |
| Euphorbia sanguinea | ZnO | 34 nm | Flower like shape | 2.72–4.37 | 92% | MG Dye | Ekennia et al. (2021b) |
| Justicia spicigera | ZnO | 22 nm | Semi-spherical | 3.3 | 90% | MB Dye | Soto-Robles et al. (2021) |
| Lantana camara | ZnO | | Spherical | 3.56 | 98% | MB Dye | Surendra et al. (2021) |
| Lime juice | ZnO | | Spherical | 3.13 | 98.8%, 94.8%, 98.5%, 98.8% | MB, MO, RhB, PRA Dyes | Gowthambabu et al. (2021) |
| Matricaria recutita | CeO2 | 12 nm | Spherical | 1.94 | 93% | MB and MO Dye | Moro Druzian et al. (2023) |
| Pomegranate | ZnO | 27 nm | Spherical | 2.84 | 32% | MO Dye | Mousa et al. (2024) |
| Pullulan | ZnO | | Spherical and Hexagonal | 3.3 | 85.7% | AMX and PCT | Mohamed Isa et al. (2021) |
| Ruellia tuberosa | ZnO | | Rod | | 94% and 92% | MB and MG Dye | Vasantharaj et al. (2021) |
| Seder | ZnO | 15 nm | Hexagonal | 2.59 | 52% | MO Dye | Mousa et al. (2024) |
Zhang and others chemically synthesized ZnO/CdS/TiO2 hybrid NPs compared to traditional CdS/TiO2 hybrids. The synthesized ZnO/CdS/TiO2 exhibits excellent potential for degradation of Atrazine and Rhodamine B and for treatment of textile wastewater. ZnO/CdS/TiO2 shows 90% Rhodamine B removal efficiency as compared to CdS/TiO2 which is 20%. Whereas the Atrazine degradation was only showed by ZnO/CdS/TiO2 with 80% efficiency. Photochemical decoloration and mineralization efficiencies of ZnO/CdS/TiO2 was much higher when compared to CdS/TiO2 for the textile wastewater treatment (Zhang et al., 2016). Muhammad and others synthesized hybrid NPs of ZnO/Zn(OH)2 using mineral acid, for the degradation of sunset yellow in deionized water. They found that the hybrid NPs shows excellent degradation with >92% and removal of sunset yellow dye which is 3.5 times compared to ZnO NPs (Faheem et al., 2022). Mousa and co-workers synthesized ZnO NPs by chemical and green method for the photocatalytic degradation of MO dyes. The study shows that green synthesized ZnO NPs exhibit excellent efficiency as compared with chemically synthesized ZnO NPs by achieving 87% ± 0.5% MO dye degradation with a reduced band gap of 2.59 eV as compared to 3.16 eV of chemically synthesized ZnO NPs. They also found that the enhanced activity was primarily attributed to phytochemical-induced oxygen vacancies rather than size reduction alone as all the sample have similar particle size 20–30 nm (Mousa et al., 2024). Similarly, Aravind and others synthesized TiO2 NPs by biogenic method using jasmine flower extract and also by chemical method (hydrothermal). Biosynthesized TiO2 NPs results in maximum degradation of MB Dye with efficiency of 89% as compared to chemically synthesized TiO2 NPs with 82%. Both synthetic methods produce spherical NPs with comparable crystallite size 31–42 nm. The increase in efficiency is due to the hydroxyl group present in jasmine flower extract. These hydroxyl group promotes the highly reactive hydroxyl radical upon UV-Vis irradiation, resulting in oxidation and degradation of pollutants (Aravind et al., 2021). These findings highlights that the defect engineering via green synthesis is more effective strategy for enhancing the photocatalytic efficiency than merely controlling the size of NPs (Jadhav et al., 2024; Muhammad et al., 2024). These photocatalytic degradation of dyes gives better response in biosynthesized NPs prepared from eco-friendly, simple, inexpensive and efficient green synthesis methods in comparison to chemical synthesis methods of NPs. This means that the green method alternative root can produce eco-friendly NPs for the treatment of industrial wastewater (El Golli et al., 2021).
5.1.1.2 Nanofiltration
Nanofiltration is a membrane filtration technique which is a pressure driven process lying between ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis, using membrane with pore sizes ranging from 1–10 nm and is capable of removing heavy metals, dyes, divalent salts, organic molecules and allowing water to pass through membrane (Abdel-Fatah, 2018). In the nanofiltration process the polluted water is passed through a semipermeable membrane by applying pressure (Kavitha et al., 2019). Nanofiltration has outstanding performance in case of monovalent ions. It shows the elimination of 90% monovalent ions (Liao et al., 2018; Jabeen et al., 2022). Some researchers used an interfacial polymerization reaction to develop a sugar based nanofiltration membrane. Figure 23 shows the schematic on nanofiltration.
Trimesoyl chloride was reacted with glucose, raffinose and maltose to obtain a modified sugar based nanofiltration membrane, resulting in enhanced water permeability of 33.7 ± 1.4 L/m2.h.bar and rejects ∼95% of Na2SO4 (Zheng et al., 2021). Jabeen and other researchers studied the removal of heavy metal ions from industrial wastewater by modifying polyethyleneimine/trimesoyl chloride nanofiltration membrane by using triethanolamine as a medium. The triethanolamine not only helps in increasing the rate of rejection of heavy metal ions from the contaminated water but also increases its pure water permeability two times by 13.6 L/m2.h1.bar1enhancing hydrophilicity of membrane (Zhang et al., 2022). Table 8 shows the overview on nanofiltration membrane type. Bashir and others compared the neat PES membrane with the green synthesized AgNP-incorporated mixed matrix membrane. The AgNP incorporated membrane improved the filtration performance with 0.75 wt% AgNP loading, whereas higher loading results in aggregation and reduced performance. It achieves the highest antifouling efficiency while maintaining the excellent dye rejection. These finding show that the controlled biogenic AgNP incorporation increase the separation efficiency and membrane hydrophilicity, making it attractive candidate for industrial wastewater treatment (Bashir et al., 2025) The biogenic NPs shows superior compatibility with polymer matrices, but the large-scale membrane synthesis still relies on chemically synthesized NPs due to greater reproducibility.
TABLE 8. Overview on nanofiltration membrane type.
| Nanofiltration membrane type | Pure water permeability (L/m2.h.bar) | Removal efficiency | Application | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mixed Matrix Membrane | 36 | MB 100%, CR 100%, Rose Bengal 90% | Industrial waste treatment | Bashir et al. (2025) |
| Polyethyleneimine/trimesoyl chloride nanofiltration membrane | 13.6 | Zn2+, Cd2+, Ni2+, Cu2+ 97% and Pb2+ 92% | Removal of divalent heavy metal ions from industrial wastewater | Zhang et al. (2022) |
| Double positively charged nanofiltration membrane | 27.9 | Ni2+ 99.4%, Cu2+ 99.6%, and Cr3+ 99.9% | Removal of heavy metal ions from wastewater | Yang et al. (2022) |
| AFC 40 nanofiltration membrane | 7.14 | Zn2+ 99.29% | Removal of Zinc from industrial wastewater | Kočanová et al. (2017) |
| Polyvinylidene fluoride -Tin(IV) oxide composite membrane | - | Pb2+ 93.9%, Cu2+ 92.8%, Zn2+ 82.3%, Cd2+ 70.7% and Ni2+ 63.9% | Wastewater treatment | Ibrahim et al. (2020) |
| NF270 nanofiltration membrane | - | Cu2+ 100%, Cd2+ 99%, Mn2+ 89%, Pb2+ 74% | Removal of heavy metal ions | Al-Rashdi et al. (2013) |
| UiO-66@PAO membrane | - | 80.6% | Uranium extraction from seawater | Wang et al. (2022) |
5.1.1.3 Nano-adsorption
Nano-adsorption is the surface phenomenon in which the pollutants (called adsorbate) are gathered in the adsorbent molecules (Mashkoor et al., 2020). These molecules are combined by two forces, namely, chemical interactive forces and physical interactive forces (Sims et al., 2019). Figure 24 shows the schematic on Nano-adsorption. Chemical interactive forces are responsible for chemisorption resulting in formation of chemical bonds between adsorbate and adsorbent whereas Physical interactive forces are responsible for physisorption resulting in attractive force between adsorbate and adsorbent (Feiqiang et al., 2018).
5.1.2 Air pollution control
Air Pollution has become a major global concern due to rapid urbanization, industrialization and increased vehicular emissions. It is one of the most critical environmental challenges, significantly affecting human health, ecosystem and climate change. Major air pollutants such as sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10). These pollutants originate from industrial emissions, vehicular emissions, and fossil fuel combustion (Ghamarpoor et al., 2024; Zhan et al., 2026). The conventional air purification techniques, including activated carbon adsorption, electrostatic precipitators and wet scrubbing. Although these techniques are effective to some extent but have limitations such as secondary pollution, high operational costs, incomplete removal. In recent years, nanotechnology has emerged as a promising approach for air pollution control. The unique physicochemical properties of NPs make them ideal candidates for the air purification applications. The applications such as photocatalytic degradation of gaseous pollutants, catalytic conversion of vehicular emissions, industrial emission control and removal of particulate matter offers versatile and highly effective method for air pollution control (Ghamarpoor et al., 2024).
5.1.2.1 Photocatalytic degradation of air pollutants
Photocatalysis is one of the most effective NP-based approaches for air pollution control. It widely uses semiconductor NPs such as TiO2, ZnO, CeO2 and WO3 as photocatalysts for degradation of air pollutants. Upon irradiation with UV-Vis light, these NPs leads to the formation of reactive oxygen species such as superoxide radical (•O2 −) and hydroxyl radical (•OH), which oxidize toxic pollutants into harmless end products. Liao and others compared the photocatalytic properties of TiO2, ZnO and their composite for the degradation of gaseous formaldehyde. The photocatalytic property of composite is worse than TiO2 but better than ZnO. This is due to the higher recombination of photogenerated charges in ZnO, limiting its photocatalytic efficiency (Liao et al., 2012). Table 9 shows an overview on various NPs showing Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Pollutants. Kwon and others used TiO2 NPs for decomposition of acetaldehyde. TiO2 annealed at 500 °C shows highest performance in acetaldehyde removal in dry conditions as compared to TiO2 annealed at 300 °C and 600 °C. While in humid conditions, though the overall acetaldehyde removal performance reduces, the total oxidation of acetaldehyde to CO2 increases (Kwon et al., 2024), making it a potential candidate for air purification applications. Magudieswaran and co-workers synthesized CeO2 NPs by biogenic and chemical methods. Jatropha curcas extract was used for the biogenic synthesis of CeO2 NPs and sodium hydroxide for chemical methods. The synthesized CeO2 NPs showed photocatalytic activity in indoor air pollutant degradation. The green synthesized CeO2 NPs degrade 99.6% acetaldehyde into CO2 as compared to chemically synthesized CeO2 NPs, which shows relatively weaker photoactivity of 93.2%. The size of biosynthesized NPs is much smaller 3–5 nm as compared chemically synthesized 18–25 nm. The enhanced activity was attributed to increases surface area and the improved dispersion achieved via green method. This shows the effectiveness of green synthetic route in enhancing the photocatalytic performance (Magudieshwaran et al., 2019).
TABLE 9. Overview on various NPs showing Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Pollutants.
| Material | NP system | Synthesis method | Pollutants | Efficiency | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zinc nitrate | ZnO NPs | Precipitation | Phenol | 100% | Uribe-López et al. (2021) |
| Zinc (II) acetylacetonate | ZnO NPs | Sol-Gel | Phenol | 80% | Uribe-López et al. (2021) |
| Chitosan/Polyvinyl alcohol Hydrogel beads | N-doped TiO2 | Sol–Gel | Phenol, ammonia | 57.07%, 69.27% | Mandor et al. (2022) |
| Chitosan/Polyvinyl alcohol Hydrogel beads | N-doped ZnO beads | Sol–Gel | Phenol, ammonia | 76.45%, 73.06% | Mandor et al. (2022) |
| Zinc acetate | S-doped ZnO NPs | Hydrothermal | Rhodamine B, Phenol | 100%53% | Mirzaeifard et al. (2020) |
| Zinc nitrate hexahydrate, Sodium tungstate dihydrate | ZnO–WO3 NPs | Hydrothermal | Diclofenac | 80% | (E et al., 2019) |
| Zinc citrate, Titanium (IV) isopropoxide | TiO2–ZnO binary oxide | Hydrothermal | C.I. Basic Blue 3, C.I. Basic Violet 10, C.I. Basic Red 1, 4- nitrophenol | 97%, 91.8%, 90%, 99% | Kubiak et al. (2019) |
| Polygonum Minus | ZnO NPs | Ionic-Liquid Microwave-Assisted | Phenol | 75.15% | Nawaz et al. (2023) |
| Glycerol, titanium tetrachloride | Black TiO2 NPs | Precipitation | Phenol | 61.05% | Nawaz et al. (2023) |
| Zinc Nitrate, Titanium (IV) isopropoxide | ZnO–TiO2 | Hydrothermal | Nitrophenol | 96% | Cheng et al. (2016) |
| Titanium (IV) isopropoxide, Iron (III) nitrate nonahydrate | Fe-doped TiO2 NPs | Sol–Gel | Arsenic (III) | 70% | Garza-Arévalo et al. (2016) |
| Iron (III) nitrate nonahydrate, Titanium (IV) isopropoxide | Fe3+-doped TiO2 NPs | Hydrothermal | Para-nitrophenol | 92% | Sood et al. (2015) |
| Titanium butoxide, Thiourea, Urea | C–N–S-tri doped TiO2 NPs | Sonochemical | Diclofenac | 100% | Ramandi et al. (2017) |
5.2 Biomedical applications
NPs have various applications in the biological and medical field. The NPs synthesized by biogenic materials are of great interest for the biomedical applications as these materials have their own biological activity which helps in enhancing the biocompatibility of synthesized NPs whereas NPs synthesized by chemical methods have low biocompatibility in comparison to green methods. Many metal and metal oxide NPs have been utilized for their antiviral, antibacterial, antioxidant, anticancer, anti-inflammatory properties, drug delivery in biomedical applications.
5.2.1 Antimicrobial properties
Biogenic synthesized metal and metal oxide NPs especially silver, zinc oxide, gold, titanium dioxide, platinum and copper show excellent antibacterial, antiviral, antiparasitic and antifungal properties. Antimicrobial effect of NPs is employed by following mechanisms and pathways which includes DNA and protein damage, reactive oxygen species generation, disruption of bacterial cell wall, intracellular antibacterial actions and interference with metabolic pathways. AgNPs synthesized from Lawsonia inermis Linn. water extract has shown potential antibacterial effects against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis, Acinetobacter baumannii, Staphylococcus arlettae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterococcus faecalis. AgNPs get attached with the bacterial membrane and lead to bacterial cell death (Said et al., 2024). Table 10 shows an overview on various NPs showing antimicrobial properties. AgNPs biosynthesized by L. inermis extract inhibiting the growth of Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhimurium, E. coli strains was 25 μg/mL (Alhomaidi et al., 2022). MgO NPs green synthesized using L. inermis leaves extract and chemically synthesized exhibits antibacterial activity against S. aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Proteus vulgaris, E. coli bacteria. The authors noticed that green synthesized MgO NPs showed better antibacterial activity as compared to chemically synthesized one. The interaction of organism with MgO NPs results in damaging the organism surface. The electrostatic contact between MgO NPs and organism surface lead to the final death of bacterial cell (Akshaykranth et al., 2021). Besides, mycogenic green synthesized ZnO and CuO NPs have not only strong antibacterial activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria but also against pathogenic fungal strains. The NPs inhibits the growth of fungus by disrupting cellular functions, causing deformation of fungal hyphae and exhibiting the formation of conidiophores and conidia, eventually leading to cell death whereas when NPs react with bacterial protein, it combines with the thiol group and results in inactivation of bacterial growth and proteins (Mohamed et al., 2021). While, ZnO and CuO NPs synthesized by sol-gel method show strong decline of bacterial strains when kept in contact with the NPs (Dadi et al., 2019), making them promising candidates for preventing hospital infections and for antibacterial coatings of medical devices.
TABLE 10. Overview on various NPs showing Antimicrobial Properties.
| Material | NPs | Size | Shape | Antimicrobial effect | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ziziphus mauritiana | Ag | 12.5 nm | Spherical | Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis | Asimuddin et al. (2020) |
| Saccharum officinarum | Ag | 28.2 nm | Spherical | Phytophthora capsici, Cladosporium fulvum, Colletotrichum acutatum | Velu et al. (2017) |
| Salvia spinosa | Ag | 19–125 nm | Spherical | Bacillus vallismortis, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis | Pirtarighat et al. (2019) |
| Terminalia mantaly | Ag | 11–83 nm | Anisotropic | Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae | Majoumouo et al. (2019) |
| Acalypha indica | Ag | 20–30 nm | Spherical | Escherichia coli and Vibrio cholerae | Krishnaraj et al. (2010) |
| Garcinia mangostana | Ag | 35 nm | Spherical | Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus | Veerasamy et al. (2011) |
| Morus | Ag | 15–20 nm | Spherical | Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis | Singh et al. (2017) |
| Bacillus cereus | Ag | 20–40 nm | Spherical | Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumonia | Sunkar and Nachiyar (2012) |
Muthuvel and others biosynthesized CeO2 NPs using Calotropis procera. The antibacterial activity was compared with two Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria including Staphylococcus saprophyticus, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. They found that the antibacterial activity was higher against Gram-negative bacteria as compared to Gram-positive bacteria. The difference in activity is due to the structural differences in cell membrane of these two types of bacteria (Muthuvel et al., 2020). Aravind and others found that the thin walls of Gram-negative bacteria are rapidly broken by the positive ions of TiO2 NPs synthesized by biogenic and chemical methods. The electrostatic interaction between positive and negatively charged cell wall of Gram-negative bacteria such as E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae, results in high inhibition on Gram-negative bacteria (Aravind et al., 2021).
5.2.2 Drug delivery
Biosythesized NPs have a major advancement in the use of drug delivery systems in medical applications. Their non toxicity and nanosize makes them capable for delivery of drugs to their targeted tissues by bypassing various biological barriers. NPs are used to treat various diseases and disorders. They help in enhancing the therapeutic efficiency in treating Alzheimer’s disease, gene therapy, cancer, tumor and various other neurodegenerative disorders by delivering drugs directly to the affected tissue. This not only improves the drug efficacy but also minimizes the side effects of the drugs by not affecting the other tissues. Ghorbani and others synthesized Lipoic acid curcumin and used Glutathione in gold-iron nanocomposites for treating the brain tumor. Glutathione functionalization enhances positive astrocyte cell uptake thus, bypassing the blood brain barrier (Ghorbani et al., 2018). Ortega and others derived AgNPs using Cryptococcus laurentii for tumor treatment. Biosynthesized AgNPs exhibit antitumor properties against breast cell line and cancer cells (Ortega et al., 2015). AgNPs biosynthesized using Cassia fistula L. flowers extract and chemically synthesized by co-precipitation method were found to exhibit anticancer activity. The authors found that biosynthesized AgNPs results in enhanced dose dependent effect to HEP3B cancer cells in comparison to chemically synthesized by doing in vitro evaluation of cytotoxicity (Esther Arland and Kumar, 2024).
Other NPs, including ZnO NPs, NiO NPs, CuNPS, CuO NPs, SeNPs, SiNPs and AuNPs synthesized by biogenic methods showed anticancer activity. They possess unique properties which can be used for targeted drug delivery, therapy and imaging. The potential effect depends on both the properties of biogenic material and the NPs (Jeevanandam et al., 2020; Ayub et al., 2024). Furthermore, synthesized CeO2 NPs also show good in vitro anticancer activity against human lung carcinoma cells. The results obtained here in anticancer studies have a great potential to open a new pathway in the field of cancer treatment. Efficiency (Pathak et al., 2023). Thus, it is important to choose the right biogenic material for synthesis of NPs for effective cancer cell targeting.
5.3 Agricultural applications
In agriculture, NPs have shown great potential by upgrading soil health, increasing crop growth, controlling pest, moreover, biosynthesized NPs are eco-friendly, non-toxic and can be used as nano-fertilizers with minimum impact on environment and crop (Edo et al., 2025). The use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides have adverse effect on human health and environment. To overcome these problems and minimize their harmful effect nano-fertilizers are a promising method and nano-fertilizers derived from biogenic materials are non-toxic and eco-friendly. Davarpanah and others utilised zinc and boron nano-fertilizers on Punica granatum cv. Ardestani. They sprayed the plant with an amount of Zinc and boron nano-fertilizers which led to increase in fruit yield and also noticed that the boron was showing better results than that of zinc (Davarpanah et al., 2016). Liu and others explored CuO, ZnO, FeOx and MnOx NPs in lettuce seed germination in low concentration. They found that CuO and ZnO are more toxic in comparison to their respective metal ions whereas FeOx and MnOx shows a good result and helps in root elongation of lettuce by 12%–16% and 50% respectively. This indicates that they can be used as fertilizers in lettuce seed germination (Liu et al., 2016). Zn/B nano-fertilizer synthesized from chitosan NPs emulsion and ZnSO4, H3BO3 was sprayed on coffee leaves and enhanced the growth of the plant (Wang and Nguyen, 2018). Table 11 shows an overview on various NPs showing agricultural applications.
TABLE 11. Overview on various NPs for Agricultural Applications.
| NPs | Biogenic material | Size and shape | Disease | Pathogens | Host plant | Effects | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AgNPs | Fusarium oxysporum | 11–14 nm, Spherical | Fusarium wilt | Fusarium oxysporum | Tomato | Antifungal effects | Madbouly et al. (2017) |
| NiNPs | - | <100 nm | Fusarium wilt | Fusarium oxysporum | Tomato | Antifungal Effect | Ahmed (2016) |
| ZnO NPs | M. nigra and G. robusta | 30 nm, Spherical | Cercospora leaf spot | Cercospora beticola | Sugar beet | Reduces disease and severity | Farahat (2018) |
| SiNPs | Pseudomonas putida | 1.52–8.73 nm | Powdery mildew | Blumeria graminis | Wheat | 83.3%–91% reduction of disease | Farhat et al. (2018) |
| TNPs | Pseudomonas putida | 5.81–8.95 nm | Powdery mildew | Blumeria graminis | Wheat | 93.5% reduction of disease | Farhat et al. (2018) |
| AgNPs | F. oxysporum | 10–30 nm, Spherical | Different fungal diseases | Pythium aphanidermatum | Tomato | Reduced disease symptoms | Elshahawy et al. (2018) |
| CuO | C. papaya L | 40–80 nm, spherical | Bacterial wilt | Ralstonia solanacearum | Tobacco | Antibacterial effect | Chen et al. (2019) |
6 Challenges and future aspects
NPs synthesis via biogenic and chemical methods plays a crucial role in advancement of various applications in environmental remediation, biomedical, catalysis, agriculture, energy applications, etc., and also encounters specific challenges to these applications. However, these methods face challenges that impact their stability, toxicity, scalability and integration in industrial applications (Veerasamy, 2024). The Chemical method provides specific control over shape, size and purity of NPs, which is very crucial for the applications in bioactivity and drug delivery (Abdel-Mageed et al., 2021). Although, this process involves non-biodegradable stabilizers, toxic reagents and hazardous solvents, raising questions on cytotoxicity and environmental impact. However, Biogenic methods for the synthesis of NPs includes plant extracts, bacteria, fungi, algae making it a more convenient, eco-friendly and cost-effective alternative approach (Iqbal et al., 2020). Biosynthesized NPs have biocompatibility making them a promising tool for antimicrobial, biosensing, drug delivery and wound healing applications (Barik and Mondal, 2025). Despite showing better biocompatibility, biosynthesized NPs lack scalability and purity, thus making it difficult to generate particles with uniform size and shape, long term stability effecting nano-based applications (Altammar, 2023). Furthermore, the future research should concentrate on establishing hybrid, standardized and reproducible approach that combine biofunctionalization and synthetic chemical control with minimum toxicity and environmental impact. Such method should enable precise control over size, shape and quality of NPs with maximum efficiency. The stability and scalability of biosynthesized NPs should be improved, offering uniform, stable and pure NPs with better biocompatibility and applications (Altammar, 2023). Also, artificial intelligence, computational modelling, machine learning and real time monitoring of synthesis can play an evolutionary role in predicting optimal conditions for NPs synthesis, path of synthesis, bioactivity and their mode of action and various application designs (Hrvat et al., 2021). In addition, comprehensive studies on environmental impact, long-term toxicity and biodegradability of NPs are necessary to ensure their safe use. Economic analysis and life cycle assessment should be performed for the comparison of commercial feasibility and sustainability of biogenic and chemical method of NPs synthesis. Addressing these challenges and future perspectives will be beneficial in exploring the full potential of synthesized NPs across healthcare and industrial applications.
7 Conclusion
This review highlights the chemical and biogenic synthesis methods, characterization and comparative analysis in detail. The chemical methods used for the synthesis of NPs are expensive, use hazardous chemicals and give toxic byproducts, making it environmentally concern. The alternative biogenic method used for synthesis of NPs is a cost effective, eco-friendly and non-toxic approach. Although biogenic synthesized NPs lack in crystallinity, scalability, size, shape and purity in comparison to chemically synthesized NPs, environmental impact is one of the major concerns in today’s world and to overcome this problem, biogenic synthesis is the best alternative method. To enhance the activity of biogenic synthesized NPs for better application, there is a need for further research in optimizing the condition to improve the shape, size, crystallinity, purity and scalability properties of NPs. These NPs have various applications in industrial wastewater treatment, environmental remediation, bioactivity, drug delivery, agriculture, etc. In this review, we have discussed these applications of both chemical synthesized and biogenic synthesized NPs.
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Footnotes
Edited by: Evgeny Rebrov, University of Warwick, United Kingdom
Reviewed by: Narendra Sadhwani, Thermo Fisher Scientific, United States
Tongtong Wang, Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, China
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The author(s) declared that financial support was not received for this work and/or its publication.
- Author contributions
AP: Data curation, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Resources. MK: Writing – original draft, Investigation, Resources. AK: Visualization, Conceptualization, Validation, Writing – review and editing. GP: Validation, Visualization, Formal Analysis, Methodology, Supervision, Conceptualization, Writing – review and editing.
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Citation
Punetha, A., et al. (2026). Advances in biogenic nanoparticles: synthesis pathways and emerging applications. Frontiers in Chemical Engineering, Volume 8. https://doi.org/
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- 8 - 2026
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Copyright © 2026 Punetha, Kharkwal, Kharkwal and Purohit.
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
*Correspondence: Aneeta Kharkwal; Gunjan Purohit
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