Sustainable plant and microbes-mediated preparation of Fe3O4 nanoparticles and industrial application of its chitosan, starch, cellulose, and dextrin-based nanocomposites as catalysts

Iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe3O4 NPs) attracted significant scientific interest, considering their immense diversity of usage and biocompatibility. Perceiving the growing importance of sustainable chemistry, many efforts have been made to prepare these NPs using naturally occurring materials mostly plant extracts and microbes. Magnetic NPs (MNPs) are commonly used as composites and are considered in two matters: synthesis and modifica-tion of their functional groups. Biopolymeric nanocomposites are a group of hybrid materials composed of natural polymers and inorganic nanomaterials. Biopolymers such as alginate, cellulose, starch, gelatin, chitosan, etc. have been considered extensively and provided composites with better electrical and mechanical thermal properties. Fe3O4 NPs incorporated in a polymer and biopolymer matrix is a good instance of the functional nano structure, which has been able to enhance the properties of both ingredients. These hybrids can have impressive applications in various scopes such as magneto-optical storage, electromagnetic interference shielding, catalyst, water remediation, biomedical sensing, and so on. In this study, we have tried to briefly introduce Fe3O4 NPs, investigate the green and sustainable methods that have been suggested for its synthesis and review recent utilization of their biopolymeric nanocomposite (NC) including starch, chitosan, dextrin, etc. as catalysts and photocatalysts. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe3O4 NPs) have attracted significant scientific interest due to their diverse usage and biocompatibility. Sustainable methods using plant extracts and microbes have been explored for their synthesis, with a focus on incorporating them into biopolymeric nanocomposites for improved properties. These hybrids have potential applications in magneto-optical storage, catalysts, water remediation, and biomedical sensing.