There is a need for the development of procedures for the atmospheric synthesis of metal nanoparticles (NPs) that remain stable for sufficiently long time, especially in biomedical field i.e. antitumor, antimicrobial and antifungal applications. In this regard, substantial attention is paid to creating conditions, where metal nanoparticles (Ag, Au, Cu, Sn etc.) could be formed with desired and controlled size, shape and structure. Silver has been regarded as a versatile healing tool and been used since ancient times to control infections. In recent times, colloidal Ag has been proposed for antimicrobial [1] and anticancer therapy [2]. However, the use of Ag-based nanomaterials receives currently a lot of attention since of their widespread and diverse applications. Particularly, the potential adverse effects of Ag NPs on humans and environment are under a lot of scrutiny. Copper could be an excellent replacement of silver in biomedical applications. Importantly, Cu is known to have significant antibacterial and antifungal properties [3, 4]. Furthermore, there are described sequestering systems for Cu releasing out of the body [4, 5]. However, commercial use of Cu nanomaterials is still a huge challenge for researchers, mainly because of their ease of oxidation in aqueous systems (i.e. living systems) and in open atmosphere. In this regard, new synthetic strategies promising methods for well-defined Cu nanomaterials as well as for the scale-up of their production are highly required. In this work we present development of a new method of synthesis of stable and well-defined silver and copper nanoparticles by chemical reduction with application of natural polymer – chitosan. Physicochemical characterization of the prepared nanomaterials by such techniques as: (i) UV-vis and IR spectroscopy, (ii) structure imaging by scanning (SEM) and transmission (TEM) electron microscopy, (iii) chemical analysis by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and (iv) structural analysis by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) were executed. The best nanomaterials were selected for in vitro tests and preliminary evaluation of their biological activity against human cancer cells and fungi were performed. [1] Kalishwaralal K, Kanth SBM, Pandian SRK, Deepak V, Gurunathan S. Silver nanoparticles impede the biofilm formation by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus epidermidis. Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces. 2010;79:340-4. [2] Sanpui P, Chattopadhyay A, Ghosh SS. Induction of Apoptosis in Cancer Cells at Low Silver Nanoparticle Concentrations using Chitosan Nanocarrier. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2011;3:218-28. [3] Theivasanthi T, Alagar M. Studies of copper nanoparticles effects on microorganisms. Annals of Biological Research. 2011;2:368-73. [4] Iakovidis I, Delimaris I, Piperakis SM. Copper and its complexes on medicine: a biochemical approach. Molecular Biology International. 2011. [5] Mallick S, Sharma S, Benerjee M, Ghosh SS, Chattopadhyay A, Paul A. Iodine-stabilized Cu nanoparticle chitosan composite for antibacterial application. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2012;4:1313-23.

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