Polymers used in green synthesis of nanoparticles and their importance in pharmaceutical and biomedical applications

Recent progress in the literature has shown that polymers play a significant role in the green synthesis of metal nanoparticles (MNPs) utilized in the biomedical and pharmaceutical fields. Exceptional characteristics, such as biocompatibility and nontoxicity of the polymers (natural and fewer synthetic), promote their use not just for controlling the particle size, but also for stabilizing the formed MNPs. Polymer-stabilized MNPs exhibit significant superior properties in comparison to their bulk materials and pristine MNP counterparts. The rationale of this chapter is to review the polymers that are employed during the preparation of MNPs, which demonstrate encouraging potential for wound-dressing and anticancer applications. This chapter offers collective information on the polymer-supported nanoparticles or composite derivatives that have been obtained by various synthetic routes. Furthermore, this chapter emphasizes the strategies involved and the role of polymeric materials with nucleating agents, which control the shape and size of NPs. Finally, the potential applications of such nanomaterials, exclusively examined for wound-dressing and anticancer applications, are summarized.