9 - Green synthesis of spinel ferrite nanoparticles

Abstract

Nowadays, green synthesis of ferrite nanoparticles has appeared to be an attractive and useful alternative to chemical synthesis due to its wider applications in creating an eco-friendly environment and cost-effective approach. Generally, the synthesis constitutes plant parts like leaves, fruits, flowers, seeds, roots, etc., and microorganism-based extracts. Besides these fungi, enzymes, biopolymers, and micro-assisted heating replace the toxic chemicals with biodegradable reducing, stabilizing, chelating, or capping agents. Herein, the chapter discusses the environmentally benign ways to synthesize ferrite nanoparticles and their emerging applications especially in antimicrobial and biomedical fields which generally emerge due to the green synthesis route, along with the appropriate characterization methods used to determine their biomedical activities. The mechanisms behind the green synthesis route have also been discussed briefly.