A GREEN PROCESS FOR THE BIOLOGICAL SYNTHESIS OF ARSENIC NANOPARTICLES

摘要

The present invention provides a green process for the synthesis of arsenic nanoparticles using arsenic resistant fungi at room temperature without the involvement of expensive, toxic chemicals. The biosynthesized arsenic nanoparticles were observed to be growth promoting for bacteria, fungi and plants at nanogram per milliliter (ng/ml) concentration. They were even nontoxic to mammalian cells upto 400 µg/ml. Reduced toxicity of the biosynthesized nanoparticles as compared to the parental salt can be exploited for safe use in different pathogenic conditions where arsenic has been used as a drug. Also, the growth promoting activity of the nanoparticles can be used for arsenic mitigation at one hand and usage in biofertilizer and growth stimulator in fermentation technology on the other.