Plant-mediated biosynthesis and characterization of zinc oxide nanoparticles

Abstract Herbals are playing a major role in the green synthesis of various metal and metal oxide nanoparticles. Metal nanoparticles, such as selenium, silver, and gold, and metal oxide nanoparticles, like zinc oxide, zirconium oxide, copper oxide, titanium oxide, aluminum oxide, silver oxide, and cadmium oxide, are used in many biomedical, environmental, and agricultural applications. This chapter clearly presents the latest information on the green synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles, including characterization and various applications in different areas, examining how zinc oxide nanoparticles can be synthesized using different parts of plant extracts, including fruit, leaves, seeds, bark, stem, flowers, and roots. Plant-mediated zinc oxide nanoparticles can be characterized using a number of different techniques and these are briefly described: transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, elemental dispersive X-ray diffraction, spectrofluorometry, particle size analyses, X-ray diffraction assay, UV-Vis spectroscopy analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning colorimetry, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The chapter also describes various plants and their parts used in green synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles, as well as applications, including the diagnosis and treatment of many diseases in vitro.