A variety of microorganisms, enzymes and fungi, besides
plant extracts have been used to synthesise Se nanoparti-
cles of different size and morphology. Se itself is used in
rectifier, solar cells, photocopier and semiconductor. In
addition, they exhibit biological activity owing to their
interaction with the proteins and other biomolecules
present in the bacterial cells and plant extracts, contain-
ing functional groups such as ›NH,C=O,COOand
C-N [9]. Se-nanobelts have been synthesised on large
scale with an approximate diameter of 80 nm and length
up to 5 μm [10]. Se exists in many crystalline and amorph-
ous forms but the shape, size and structure of the nano-
particles depend on the concentration, temperature,
nature of biomolecules and pH of the reaction mixture.
The properties of Se nanoparticles varies with size and
shape for instance, Se nanospheres have high biological
activity and low toxicity while Se nanowires of t-Se have
high photoconductivity [11]. Various methods have been
employed to produce large scale Se-nanowires and trigonal
selenium (t-Se) [12,13]. Pulse laser ablation, electro-kinetic
technique, hydrothermal treatment, vapour deposition
methods [10,14-16] generally used for production of Se
nanoparticles on large scale require either sophisticated in-
struments or specific chemicals which are time consuming
and uneconomical. Such methods often employ toxic