Perspectives Towards a Green Nanochemistry

All the examples gathered here demonstrate the possibility to control the growth of metallic and oxide nanoparticles using biological templates. A wide variety of chemical composition, particle size and assemblage can be obtained via these approaches. Moreover, due to the biological nature of the template, applications in fields related to biotechnology and medicinal science can be envisioned. 

However, when compared to the striking achievements of biomineralizing systems, in vitro macromolecular-based strategies still exhibit some limitations. First, 

However, from our point of view, the most important result of this study is to demonstrate that the yield of the reduction reaction, and the size of the colloids, is highly species-dependent. In other words, it should be possible to select the most appropriate cell for a given material and, hence, for a given application. Moreover, it also suggests that further optimization of the process may be achieved by suitable genetic modification of the living organisms. 

In addition, it must be underlined that the chemical routes to cell-based materials are intrinsically green reactions because they imply that the viability of the living organisms is maintained. They should therefore be performed in mild temperature conditions and avoid the presence of cytotoxic products (or at least at non-toxic dose). Moreover, they use living cells that can be considered from a chemical reactivity point of view, as bio-renewable reagents. Such approaches can therefore be considered as the first steps towards the development of a green nanochemistry. 

1 Feldheim, D.L. and Foss, C.A., Jr. (eds) (2002) Metal Nanopartides Synthesis, Characterization and Application, Marcel Dekker.New York. 

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