Green Approaches to Environmental Sustainability

Background

Biosynthesis of nanoparticles by plant extracts is currently under exploitation. Nanoparticles are a class of materials with properties distinctively different from their bulk and molecular counterparts (Biswas & Wu, 2005). Plant extracts are cost effective and eco-friendly and they are the efficient alternative for the large scale production of nanoparticles (Dubey, Bhadauria, & Kushwah, 2009). With the development of different physical and chemical methods, the concern for environmental contaminations are heightened as the chemical procedures involved in the synthesis of nanomaterials generate a large amount of hazardous byproduct emphasizing a need for ‘green chemistry’ that includes a clean, nontoxic and environment-friendly method of nanoparticle synthesis (Mukherjee et al., 2001). Nanotechnology has become a popular technology in recent years and addresses nanoparticles that are atomic or molecular aggregates characterized by size of less than 100 nm (Fatimah, 2016). Due to the unique features and applications of the nanoparticles, they are very useful especially in the field of medical imaging, biotechnology, and catalysts (Bagherzade, Tavakoli, & Namaei, 2017).