Green synthesis of iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) and their nanotechnological applications

Abstract

Nanotechnology is the most upcoming field of science and technology in the recent years. Scientists are constantly in search of discovering new and innovative techniques in order to develop cost effective methods to deal with environmental as well as human health related problems. From the conventional chemical and physical methods of synthesis of nanoparticles (NPs), the focus is now shifted to more sound and safer biological route of NPs production. Microorganism based methods have been advantageous to some extent, however the scaling up of NPs for commercialization has become an exhaustive challenge. Recently, a number of reports have been published on plant mediated NPs synthesis. These studies are still at the research level but they have revealed the huge potential of these green metallic NPs for diverse applications ranging from biomedicine to environmental remediation. This article summarizes the work published on green iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) synthesis and their nano technological applications that could be explored in future for improving human health and combating environmental pollution.