Plant-Mediated Biogenic Synthesis of Palladium Nanoparticles: Recent Trends and Emerging Opportunities

Nanoparticles of silver, gold, palladium and platinum are widely applied in medicine, sensor, energy and catalysis and have been widely investigated for their unique physicochemical properties. Next to silver and gold nanoparticles, palladium receives extensive attention due to their distinctive size-dependent catalytic performance. Traditionally, Pd nanoparticles have been synthesized using various physical and chemical methods involving sophisticated equipment and excessive chemicals. Expanding demand and the emerging economic/environmental concerns in synthesizing palladium nanoparticles created the necessity for the development of simple, eco-friendly, and cost effective processes. Within this context, biological processes that use plants, microorganisms, enzymes and biochemicals have been used for the synthesis of Pd nanoparticles as the green alternative. The aim of this article is to review the recent biological trends in the synthesis of Pd nanoparticles employing various plants and their effective utilization.