The Preparation of Silver Nanoparticles

The main applications of silver nanoparticles in industry were briefly reviewed in the present paper. The methods used for preparation of silver nanoparticles were summarized and compared. The physical and chemical methods are relatively mature but they have some shortcomings. The biological method is recently developed as a promising method because of its special advantages such as sufficient material sources, mild reaction conditions, good dispersion of nanoparticles as well as few chemical addictives and poisonous byproducts. The biological method for preparation of silver nanoparticles included two mechanisms, namely enzymatic catalysis mechanism and non-enzymatic reduction mechanism. The full understanding of two mechanisms would be necessary for developing it into a practical process to prepare silver nanoparticles.