Background: A biosurfactant produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa cultivated in a low-cost medium formulated with 2.5% vegetable oil refinery residue and 2.5% corn steep liquor and distilled water was employed to stabilize silver nanoparticles in the liquid phase. The particles were initially synthesized using NaBH₄ as reducing agent in biosurfactant reverse micelles and were extracted from the micellar solution to disperse in heptane.

Results: A silver particle size in the range 1.13 nm was observed. The UV-vis absorption spectra proposed that silver nanoparticles could be formed in the reverse micelles and relatively stabilized for at least 3 months without passivator addition. The Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) shows that the silver nanoparticles are of spherical form and relatively uniform.

Conclusions: This process provided a simpler route for nanoparticle synthesis compared to existing systems using whole organisms or partially purified biological extracts, showing that the low-cost biosurfactant can be used for nanoparticle synthesis as a non-toxic and biodegradable stabilizing agent.