Abstract
Much progress has been achieved in the preparation and application of engineered nanoparticles (NPs) in the field of medicine, mainly for antibacterial and antiviral applications. In the war against bacteria and viruses, besides traditional antibiotics and antiviral drugs, metal-based nanoparticles, such as silver (AgNPs), copper (CuNPs), copper oxides (CuO-NPs), iron oxide (FeO-NPs), zinc oxide (ZnO-NPs), and titanium oxide (TiO2-NPs) have been used as potent antimicrobial agents. These nanoparticles can be synthesized by traditional methods, such as chemical and physical routes, or more recently by biogenic processes. A great variety of macro and microorganisms can be successfully used as reducing agents of metal salt precursors in the biogenic synthesis of metal-based NPs for antimicrobial activity. Depending on the nature of the biological agent, NPs with different sizes, aggregation states, morphology, surface coatings and charges can be obtained, leading to different antimicrobial effects. Considering the drug resistance to traditional therapies, the development of versatile nanomaterials with potent antimicrobial effects is under intensive investigation. In this sense, this review presents and discusses the recent progress in the preparation and application of metal-based nanoparticles biogenically synthesized for antibacterial and antivirus applications. The strength and limitations are critically discussed.
Highlights
In the last decades, engineered nanoparticles (NPs) have been extensively used in different fields such as electronic, medicine, pharmaceutical, agriculture, textiles, and cosmetics
The results indicated that Chlorella sp. was an effective resource for the biogenic synthesis of Ag/AgCl nano hybrids with antibacterial activity in Bacillus species and E. coli [56]
Antibacterial assays with AgNPs synthesized by using Calligonum comosum roots and Azadirachta indica leaf extracts were effective against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus at concentrations that ranged between 10.9 and 21.4 mg L−1 [61]
Summary
In the last decades, engineered nanoparticles (NPs) have been extensively used in different fields such as electronic, medicine, pharmaceutical, agriculture, textiles, and cosmetics. Metal-based nanoparticles have been synthesized using chemical and physical routes [3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]. These methods can be harmful to human health and to the environment, restricting their use in biomedical applications since that is where they are usually employed [11]. Eco-friendly alternatives have attracted the attention of the scientific comIn contrast, eco-friendly alternatives have thecost attention of the scientific munity In this direction, biogenic (or biological) methods areattracted considered effective this direction, biogenic (or biological) methods are considered cost effective and non-toxiccommunity. Waste materials [12,13,14,15,16]
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