Green Synthesis of ZrO Nanoparticles and Nanocomposites for Biomedical and Environmental Applications: a Review

Pollution and diseases such as the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) are major issues that may be solved partly by nanotechnology. Here we review the synthesis of ZrO nanoparticles and their nanocomposites using compounds from bacteria, fungi, microalgae, and plants. For instance, bacteria, microalgae, and fungi secret bioactive metabolites such as fucoidans, digestive enzymes, and proteins, while plant tissues are rich in reducing sugars, polyphenols, flavonoids, saponins, and amino acids. These compounds allow reducing, capping, chelating, and stabilizing during the transformation of Zr into ZrO nanoparticles. Green ZrO nanoparticles display unique properties such as a nanoscale size of 5-50 nm, diverse morphologies, e.g. nanospheres, nanorods and nanochains, and wide bandgap energy of 3.7-5.5 eV. Their high stability and biocompatibility are suitable biomedical and environmental applications, such as pathogen and cancer inactivation, and pollutant removal. Emerging applications of green ZrO-based nanocomposites include water treatment, catalytic reduction, nanoelectronic devices, and anti-biofilms.