Sensing Applications and Antimicrobial Properties of Metal and Metal Oxide Nanoparticles

Metal and metal oxide nanoparticles are gaining huge importance nowadays in different industries because of their large number of properties that can be altered by different routes. Because of their smaller size, they possess excellent optical, electrical, catalytic, and magnetic properties which can be utilized in different ways in science and technology. Reducing their size to nanoscale improves their active surface area and gives them new properties due to quantum confinement. Nanostructures of metal and their oxides can be biologically synthesized from plants, fungi, and bacteria, giving them eco-friendly and sustainable properties. Their reduced size gives them the ability to penetrate the cell membrane, which is extremely useful in different biomedical applications such as sensing, diagnostics, imaging, drug delivery and biological therapies. In view of their increasing importance in the medical field, this chapter emphasizes the sensing and antimicrobial properties of metals and their oxide nanoparticles.