Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) are one of the prominent metal oxide nanoparticles with significant applications in many industries and research institutes. Various methods of synthesis have been adopted in the production of ZnO NPs so as to meet its high demand. The environmental implications and economic challenges attached to most of the means of ZnO NPs synthesis have resulted in the quest for other alternatives with environmental and economic benefits. Interestingly, the biological method of synthesis using plant sources have been found appropriate for the production of ZnO NPs dues to its numerous health, environmental, economic, and medicinal benefits. The distinctive features of ZnO NPs synthesized using plant extracts enhanced its application in agriculture for the production of fertilizers, pesticides, and fumigants. In the field of medicine and pharmacy, phytosynthesized ZnO NPs have gained remarkable usage in the production of disinfectant, antifungal, anticancer, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antidiabetics agents. Despite the enlisted benefits of biosynthesized ZnO NPs, the difficulties associated with the elucidation of formation mechanism and reactions still remain unraveled. This review described the summary of the recent advances in the synthesis, mechanism routes, characterization techniques, and applications of biosynthesized ZnO NPS in agriculture, medicine, and textile industries.

A Review on Green Synthesis of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Using Plant Extracts and Its Biomedical Applications

The field of nanotechnology is concerned with the creation and application of materials having a nanoscale spatial dimensioning. Having a considerable surface area to volume ratio, nanoparticles have particularly unique properties. Several chemical and physical strategies have been used to prepare zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs). Still, biological methods using green or natural routes in various underlying substances (e.g., plant extracts, enzymes, and microorganisms) can be more environmentally friendly and cost-effective than chemical and/or physical methods in the long run. ZnO-NPs are now being studied as antibacterial agents in nanoscale and microscale formulations. The purpose of this study is to analyze the prevalent traditional method of generating ZnO-NPs, as well as its harmful side effects, and how it might be addressed utilizing an eco-friendly green approach. The study’s primary focus is on the potential biomedical applications of green synthesized ZnO-NPs. Biocompatibility and biomedical qualities have been improved in green-synthesized ZnO-NPs over their traditionally produced counterparts, making them excellent antibacterial and cancer-fighting drugs. Additionally, these ZnO-NPs are beneficial when combined with the healing processes of wounds and biosensing components to trace small portions of biomarkers linked with various disorders. It has also been discovered that ZnO-NPs can distribute and sense drugs. Green-synthesized ZnO-NPs are compared to traditionally synthesized ones in this review, which shows that they have outstanding potential as a potent biological agent, as well as related hazardous properties.

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Exploring the Journey of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) toward Biomedical Applications

The facile bio-fabrication of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles (NPs) is described in this study using an aqueous leaf extract of Salvia officinalis L. as an efficient stabilizing/capping agent. Biosynthesis of nanomaterials using phytochemicals present in the plants has received great attention and is gaining significant importance as a possible alternative to the conventional chemical methods. The properties of the bio-fabricated ZnONPs were examined by different techniques, such as UV-visible spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and thermogravimetric/differential scanning calorimetry analysis (TGA/DTG). The photocatalytic activity of ZnONPs was investigated against methyl orange (MO) under UV light irradiation. Under optimum experimental conditions, ZnONPs exhibited 92.47% degradation of MO. Furthermore, the antifungal activity of bio-fabricated ZnONPs was determined against different clinical Candida albicans isolates following standard protocols of broth microdilution and disc diffusion assay. The susceptibility assay revealed that ZnONPs inhibit the growth of all the tested fungal isolates at varying levels with MIC values ranging from 7.81 to 1.95 µg/mL. Insight mechanisms of antifungal action appeared to be originated via inhibition of ergosterol biosynthesis and the disruption of membrane integrity. Thus, it was postulated that bio-fabricated ZnONPs have sustainable applications in developing novel antifungal agents with multiple drug targets. In addition, ZnONPs show efficient photocatalytic efficiency without any significant catalytic loss after the catalyst was recycled and reused multiple times.

Green Synthesis of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Using Salvia officinalis Leaf Extract and Their Photocatalytic and Antifungal Activities

Phytofabrication of zinc oxide nanoparticles with advanced characterization and its antioxidant, anticancer, and antimicrobial activity against pathogenic microorganisms

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Photocatalytic activity of biogenic zinc oxide nanoparticles: In vitro antimicrobial, biocompatibility, and molecular docking studies

Green synthesis has made us an exciting approach in the field of nanotechnology. Biogenic zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) were synthesized using leaf extracts of Calotropis gigantea (L.) Dryand. in the presence of zinc nitrate hexahydrate as a precursor molecule. ZnONPs were characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis and further in understanding the biomedical applications of antimicrobial (minimum inhibitory concentration method) and anticancer (apoptosis assay) activities, cytology (flow cytometry) and cytotoxicity (% cell viability), deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) fragmentation (reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)), and caspase assay (polymerase chain reactions (PCR)) studies. The morphology of nanoparticles was determined by SEM analysis. XRD pattern showed the value of highest peak of 36.15° with 101 plane region among the ten recorded peaks. FTIR spectrum indicated stretching vibration of O-H at 3441.77 cm−1. The antibacterial activity of biogenic ZnO nanoparticles was studied against human pathogenic bacteria—Campylobacter jejuni ATCC 29428 and Neisseria gonorrhoeae ATCC 49226—and showed 50% zone of inhibition. A cytotoxic study against the breast cancer cell lines of MDAMB-231 revealed that the ZnONPs as a good anticancer agent could be sliced by all existing and metabolically active cells. Biosynthesized ZnONPs potentially alter the apoptotic protein expression and trigger apoptosis in the MDAMB-231 cells. Therefore, the biogenic ZnO nanoparticles would be useful and have the great potential in the field of biomedical applications.

Sankranthi Sumhitha

Papers

Biomedical Applications of Biogenic Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Manufactured from Leaf Extracts of Calotropis gigantea (L.) Dryand.