Nature-inspired biogenic synthesis of silver nanoparticles for antibacterial applications

In recent decades, nanotechnology has been empowered as a new and developing interdisciplinary region of science and innovation that coordinates material science and biology. Nanoscience and nanotechnology open up new streets of examination that are helpful in synthesizing novel nanomaterials with remarkable applications. Among different metal nanomaterials, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) attracted the attention of researchers due to their versatile antibacterial characteristics and biological properties. Biogenically synthesizing AgNPs from plants and microorganisms seems to be a highly promising alternative for developing a technology that is both environmentally benign and fast. Plants and microorganisms' ability to synthesize AgNPs has mostly remained untapped, and the lack of investigation is due to the vast variety of plants and microorganisms. This review aims to describe the current progress in various synthetic techniques for AgNPs and their potential for antibacterial applications. It discusses biogenic synthetic approaches, the role of various metabolites in the growth processes of AgNPs with antibacterial implications, bactericidal mechanisms, and the influence of operational parameters on AgNPs synthesis. Furthermore, the present status, critical challenges, and future outlook of AgNPs will be explored, which will definitely affect their present and future scenarios. We believe that by focusing readers' attention on nature-inspired, biogenically synthesized AgNPs and their bactericidal applications, this review will enable them to formulate a new perspective.