Green synthesis of nanoparticles and their applications in the area of bioenergy and biofuel production
Dibyajit Lahiri, Moupriya Nag, Sujay Ghosh, Rina Rani Ray
Abstract
The search for bioenergy as an alternative energy source for nonstop power generation and the development of alternate strategies to solve environmental problems have been important issues in recent times. The applicability of biomass as a source for energy and fuel generation has proved to possess various economic, distinct strategic, and environmental advantages. Technical developments are needed for the transformation of unutilized and underutilized biomasses for greater production of biofuels. The use of nanotechnology has shown immense potential in addressing the challenges involved in the upstream and downstream processes for the development of biofuels from renewable energy sources. Nanoparticles have proven their efficiency because of their higher surface-area-to-volume ratio, more reactive surfaces, and ability to act as more efficient chemical catalysts, thus increasing their efficacy in biofuel generation processes such as in biohydrogen, biogas, biodiesel, and bioethanol production. The synthesis of nanomaterials can be performed by traditional physical and chemical methods, but the recent advancement involves the use of biological sources for eco-friendly synthesis of nanoparticles with less or negligible toxic effect, which led to the emergence of a new stream of “nanobiotechnology” where living samples like microbes, plants, or animal sources are used for conversion of metallic and nonmetallic salts into the respective nano form following biophysical and biochemical processes. The green synthesis of metallic nanoparticles has now gained much attention not only for several applications in the technological sector, but also for its economic and environmental benefits as a sustainable alternative to chemical and physical methods. The chapter aims at the synthesis of metallic and nonmetallic nanoparticles from various biological samples and elucidation of their effective utilization in bioenergetics through the generation of biofuels such as biogas, biodiesel, and bioethanol.