Future Prospects of Phytosynthesized Transition Metal Nanoparticles as Novel Functional Agents for Textiles - Advanced Materials for Agriculture, Food and Environmental Safety - page 264

10.1 Introduction

Over the past few years, application of nanotechnology has been booming
in many areas, including material science, mechanics, electronics, optics,
medicine, plastics, energy, electronics and aerospace [1]. New techniques
to manufacture nanoparticles with well-dei ned sizes, shapes and crystal
structures are constantly being studied and developed [2] . Conventional
methods of nanoparticle synthesis, physical (e.g., evaporation and laser
ablation) [3, 4] and chemical (reduction of salts) [5-7] methods are the
most popular methods for their production. Some chemical methods can-
not avoid the use of toxic and/or inherently hazardous reagents, surfac-
tants and solvents [2], generation of hazardous byproducts and high energy
consumption [8]. Owing to these reasons, the development of ei cient
green chemistry methods for synthesis of metal nanoparticles has become
a major focus of researchers [9]. Consequently, novel, environmentally-
benign procedures for the synthesis of transition metal nanoparticles has
led to the recent interest in using biological entities.
One of the most considered methods for the production of metal
nanoparticles is by using organisms like microbes [10], plants and plant
extracts [11] and enzymes [12]. Among these organisms plants seem to be
the best candidates since they are suitable for large-scale biosynthesis of
nanoparticles. Nanoparticles produced by plants are more stable and the
rate of synthesis is faster than in the case of microorganisms. Moreover,
nanoparticles are more various in shape and size in comparison with those
produced by other organisms [9]. Although numerous pieces of research
have been conducted on the subject of nanoparticle synthesis using bio-
logical agents, this chapter summarizes only some of the important sci-
entii c research and developmental works pertaining to transition metal
nanoparticle synthesis using plant materials. It also highlights how the
phyto-inspired synthesized nanoparticles have been integrated into tex-
tile materials to improve their performances and to extend their practical
applications by developing new functionalities.

10.2 Synthesis of Transition Metal Nanoparticle

Using Various Plant Parts

Researchers from many i elds, such as biology, physics, chemistry, material
and engineering, are showing much interest in the utilization of plants,
mainly due to the elimination of the elaborate process of maintaining cell
cultures compared to other environmentally-benign biological processes