ABSTRACT
Although chemical surfactants show promising application values, they could be toxic tothe environment. Natural surfactants are otherwise known as “biosurfactants” are of microbial origin, composed mostly of sugar and fatty acid moieties. Biosurfactants, in comparison to chemical surfactants, have higher biodegradability, lower ecotoxicity, excellent biological activities, and low carbon footprints. Accordingly, microbial surfactants are potential replacements for chemical- or oleo-based surfactants. Recently, biosurfactants have been shown to be promising candidates for rapid “green” synthesis and nanoparticles stabilizing. Biosurfactants have also been found to reduce aggregates formation due to its electrostatic forces of attraction which facilitate a uniform morphology. It is for this reason that biosurfactant-mediated synthesis is superior to bacterial- or fungal-mediated nanoparticle synthesis. In this chapter current research on the use of biosurfactants in the biosynthesis of a few metallic nanoparticles and their possible importance will be discussed.
