Article
Food Science & Technology
Karna Ramachandraiah, Geun-Pyo Hong
Summary: Polymeric nanomaterials show promise in improving sustainability in the food value chain by enhancing delivery of fertilizers, growth hormones, insecticides, and improving storage of minimally processed plant foods. However, edible nanocomposite coatings/films may not always be beneficial, and a complete replacement of conventional packaging is unlikely. Nanoscaled natural polymers can also be potentially used in sensor fabrication, offering enhanced sensitivity and specificity while reducing time and expenses in analysis.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Nika Kucuk, Mateja Primozic, Zeljko Knez, Maja Leitgeb
Summary: Biopolymeric nanoparticles are emerging as important nanocarriers for biomedical applications, offering controlled release and sustainability. This review provides an overview of the use of biopolymeric nanoparticles from various sources as drug delivery systems, highlighting their advantages over toxic metal nanoparticles. The article focuses on the encapsulation of therapeutic agents into protein- and polysaccharide-based nanocarriers, particularly for antimicrobial and anticancer activity. The classification of biopolymeric nanoparticles based on origin assists in selecting suitable carriers for specific applications, while the inclusion of recent research results demonstrates progress in the field.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Anderson do Espirito Santo Pereira, Jhones Luiz de Oliveira, Susilaine Maira Savassa, Carolina Barbara Rogerio, Gerson Araujo de Medeiros, Leonardo Fernandes Fraceto
Summary: The global agriculture sector is seeking new agricultural technology revolutions to meet the growing demand for food production and to protect the environment from harmful practices. Nanotechnology has emerged as a platform with the potential to transform the entire food chain, making agriculture more resilient and sustainable. Lignin nanoparticles offer potential applications in agriculture, particularly for environmentally friendly pesticide production.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2022)
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Xiaohan Ma, Jonathan C. Knowles, Alessandro Poma
Summary: Molecular imprinting technology has made significant advancements in the design and production of MIP nanoparticles (MIP NPs) as antibody substitutes. However, its overall sustainability and biodegradability have been questioned. This review aims to examine the production and purification strategies of MIP NPs from a sustainability and waste management perspective.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Vanessa Takeshita, Bruno Teixeira de Sousa, Ana Cristina Preisler, Lucas Braganca Carvalho, Anderson do Espirito Santo Pereira, Valdemar Luiz Tornisielo, Giliardi Dalazen, Halley Caixeta Oliveira, Leonardo Fernandes Fraceto
Summary: Nanoparticles loaded with atrazine exhibit better weed control efficacy with faster absorption rates and higher inhibition of photosystem II activity compared to the commercial formulation. The nanoencapsulation potentiates post-emergent herbicidal activity of atrazine, particularly in field conditions, providing a two-fold increase in weed control compared to commercial atrazine. The design of this carrier system enables improvements in herbicide performance in the field with reduced risk of environmental losses due to faster absorption.
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
(2021)
Review
Agronomy
Geeta Bhandari, Archna Dhasmana, Parul Chaudhary, Sanjay Gupta, Saurabh Gangola, Ashulekha Gupta, Sarvesh Rustagi, Sudhir S. S. Shende, Vishnu D. D. Rajput, Tatiana Minkina, Sumira Malik, Petr Slama
Summary: The modern agricultural system faces the challenge of meeting the increasing demand for food production caused by population growth and climate change. The use of nanotechnology in agriculture has gained significant interest for its potential to develop sustainable agricultural technologies and environmental remediation strategies. Nanotechnology involves the use of nanoparticles to fabricate novel materials and products with improved quality, playing a significant role in modern agricultural practices. However, the current physical and chemical processes involved in nanoparticle production are neither economical nor environmentally sustainable. Therefore, there is a need for green or biogenic nanoparticles obtained from plant, bacterial, fungal sources, or their metabolites, as a novel, sustainable, economical, biocompatible, and eco-friendly technology. This review focuses on the production and sources of biogenic nanoparticles and their implications in agro-ecosystems for crop productivity, soil health management, biocontrol, and environmental remediation, as well as the potential challenges in their development and implementation.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Mingrui Li, Ying Liu, Benno Weigmann
Summary: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic disorder that causes inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract. The prevalence of IBD has increased in recent years. Flavonoids, natural chemicals found in plants, have been used in the treatment of IBD, but their effectiveness is limited due to solubility and stability issues. Nanoparticles (NPs) can improve the stability and bioavailability of flavonoids, enhancing their therapeutic effects on IBD. This review aims to evaluate the therapeutic effect of flavonoid NPs on IBD and discuss potential challenges and future perspectives.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Zoila Gandara, Noelia Rubio, Rafael R. Castillo
Summary: The use of nanoparticles is crucial for the development of nanodevices for clinical applications. Silica-based nanoparticles can be tailored with functional biopolymers, providing advantages such as limitation of interaction, preservation of cargo and particle integrity, reduction of immune response, additional therapeutic effects, and cell targeting. Therefore, engineering advanced functional coatings is important to enhance the biocompatibility of existing biomaterials.
Article
Plant Sciences
Biswajit Pramanik, Puranjoy Sar, Ruchi Bharti, Rahul Kumar Gupta, Shampa Purkayastha, Somya Sinha, Sourav Chattaraj, Debasis Mitra
Summary: In the face of environmental fluctuations, plants experience various stressors that negatively impact their development and growth. Abiotic stress factors like moisture stress, salinity, temperature divergence, and heavy metal toxicity disrupt osmotic and ionic balance in plant cells, leading to reduced crop yield and failure. Biotic stress caused by pathogens, insects, and nematodes also contribute to production issues. To address these challenges and increase production, the use of nanoparticles (NPs) or nanotechnology is emerging as a promising tool in agriculture.
PLANT PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOCHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Zia Ullah Arif, Muhammad Yasir Khalid, Muhammad Fahad Sheikh, Ali Zolfagharian, Mahdi Bodaghi
Summary: This review presents the latest research on biopolymers and fiber-reinforced composites in the field of environmentally friendly materials. The study found that biopolymers have many excellent properties and have wide-ranging applications in various fields such as food, electronics, agriculture, textile, biomedical, and cosmetics. The review also discusses the degradation mechanisms, sustainability, as well as the challenges and opportunities of biopolymeric sustainable composites.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
(2022)
Review
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Matias Menossi, Romina P. Ollier, Claudia A. Casalongue, Vera A. Alvarez
Summary: The excessive use of synthetic agrochemicals and toxic fumigants in agriculture has led to environmental pollution and health risks, prompting researchers to focus on ecofriendly alternatives such as plant extracts and essential oils for pest management. Nanotechnology, specifically the loading of essential oils in nanostructured systems, offers a potential solution to improve stability and efficacy in agricultural practices.
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Faria Fatima, Arshya Hashim, Sumaiya Anees
Summary: With the increasing global population, farmers have been forced to increase fertilizer use to meet the growing demand for food, leading to environmental issues and resource shortages. Therefore, biofertilizers and nanotechnology-mediated nanofertilizers have emerged as viable solutions to enhance crop production and minimize environmental pollution.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2021)
Review
Polymer Science
Giulia Infurna, Gabriele Caruso, Nadka Tz. Dintcheva
Summary: The thermochemical decomposition of polymer waste, food waste, and biomasses into fuels, syngas, and solid phase particles, known as char/biochar particles, has been extensively researched in the past two decades. Various thermochemical decomposition processes have been explored, producing char/biochar particles with different properties such as carbon-content, compositions, porosity, and adsorption ability. These particles have potential applications in agriculture as fertilizers and in water treatment, as well as high adsorption particles. They can also be used as fillers in polymers and biopolymers, improving their mechanical and fire resistance properties.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Adrian Moreno, Jinrong Liu, Robin Gueret, Seyed Ehsan Hadi, Lennart Bergstrom, Adam Slabon, Mika H. Sipponen
Summary: The study demonstrates that controlling the degree of esterification can significantly improve the stability of lignin oleate nanoparticles under acidic and basic conditions. The high stability is attributed to the alkyl chains accumulated in the shell of the particle, delaying protonation/deprotonation of carboxylic acid and phenolic hydroxyl groups. Through enhanced stability, acid- and base-catalyzed functionalization of the nanoparticles were successfully performed at pH 2.0 and pH 12.0.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Fernando Antonio da Silva Fernandes, Juan Carlos Valdes Serra, Dayriane do Socorro de Oliveira Costa, Camilo Andres Guerrero Martin
Summary: This study successfully produced a biopolymer using glycerol, starch, and macauba epicarp fiber as reinforcement, which exhibited high strength, low solubility, low density, and rapid degradation in soil.
