Recruitment of various biological macromolecules in fabrication of gold nanoparticles: Overview for preparation and applications

This review summarizes recent works for fabrication of gold nanoparticles with controlled shape, size, and functional properties using polysaccharides as superior biological macromolecules. Special consideration is paid to the synthesis of gold nanoparticles with individual (non-aggregated) nanoparticles, narrow size distribution and regulated morphologies, including the design of nanoparticles and nanocomposites that can be applied in multifunctional purposes. The current review also focused on the problem of the spatial arrangement for nanoparticles and predication of the role of polysaccharide macromolecular structure as nano-template in this process because it is a key problem in nanoparticles industrialization, and presented the synergistic role of the ingredients on the performance of gold nanocomposites.