Biosynthesis of nanomaterials has attracted the attention of several teams worldwide. This process refers to the use of various biological resources, such as bacteria, fungi and plants, as biocatalysts to produce of a large range of nanomaterials such metallic, oxides and chalcogenides nanoparticles. This seminar will be dedicated to the use of algal resources in the bioproduction of metallic nanoparticles. After a concise presentation of algae, I will introduce briefly the advent of the use of algal resources under the form of biomass or refined proteins in such processes. Then, I will detail the exploitation of living cells of microalgae as living factories for the biosynthesis of Au, Ag and Au-Ag bimetallic alloy nanoparticles. Finally, I will provide insights on the underlying mechanism and present some interesting results tackling the design of permanent photobioreactors for the sustainable production of valuable nanomaterials.

Si Amar Dahoumane earned his PhD from Paris-Diderot University, France, in Dec. 2010, working on the production of gold nanoparticles using living cultures of microalgae. During his post-doctoral fellowship at McMaster University, Canada, he designed biohybrid platforms made of bacteria encapsulated within inorganic matrices via the sol–gel process while continuing working on nanoparticle biosynthesis using microalgae. In Jan. 2016, he joined Yachay Tech as a lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences and Engineering. His main research interests encompass greener processes for the synthesis, functionalization and bio-application of nanomaterials, toxicity studies and bioremediation.