Recent advances in the synthesis of inorganic nano/microstructures using microbial biotemplates and their applications

Biotemplates from microbial origin have been a new source of inspiration for designing and fabricating intricate, high surface area structures that possess potent applications in nanotechnology. Microbial biotemplates are useful for synthesizing nano/micro structural materials based on a bottom up approach. Being from nature, microbial biotemplates with their extraordinarily molecular machinery have been reported to be considerably superior and cost effective for fabricating complex and heterogeneous structures when compared to the conventional and advanced lithographic techniques. The advantage of speedy growth and multiplication along with controlled shape, structure and size, make microorganisms a viable template for preparing nanomaterials of defined size and shape. In this review, we have consolidated the recent advances in the synthesis of nano/micro structures using biotemplates obtained from various types of microorganisms like bacteria, fungi, algae and virus, and have highlighted its possible applications. This review excludes biomolecules like DNA, protein and lipid based biotemplates extracted from various microorganisms.