The antimicrobial properties of silver nanoparticles were known since ancient times and silver ions are widely used as bactericidal agent. Researchers have also recommended the use of silver and copper ions as superior disinfectants for wastewater generated from hospitals containing infectious microorganisms. A wide range of nanophasic and nanostructured particles are being fabricated globally with the aim of developing clean, nontoxic and eco-friendly technologies. Use of ambient biological resources in this area of science is rapidly gaining importance owing to its growing success and simplicity. Currently, simple prokaryotes to complex eukaryotic organisms including higher angiospermic plants are used for the fabrication of NPs. One area of untapped potential is the use of microbes to fabricate copper nanoparticles. We are working on this aspect and successfully fabricated spherical copper nanoparticles of size 4-10 nm. This article presents a review of the ambient biological systems for fabrication of these nanoparticles and development of an updated knowledge base.

In present investigation, samples from wastewaters of electroplating industry were collected and analyzed for the concentration of Cu²⁺ heavy metal. For the synthesis of copper nanoparticles, Pseudomonas stutzeri bacterial strain was used. The bacterial strain was isolated from soil and found that it produced 50-150 nm sized cubical copper nanoparticles from electroplating waste water. The nanoparticles have been characterized by UV-visible Spectrophotometer, X-ray diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis.