Green synthesis, characterization and medicinal uses of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs), copper nanoparticles (Cu-NPs) and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) and their mechanism of action: A review

Infectious disease is the leading cause of death globally, viruses generally affect health care and social and economic development. In addition, adverse side effects from prolonged use and the rapid development of drug resistance to currently available treatments are serious and unreasonable public health concerns. Therefore, we must work intensively to develop new treatment strategies. With the use of nanoparticles in the field of biomedicine and their interaction with microorganisms, this leads to a rapid revolution by offering advantages in both diagnostic and therapeutic applications. One of the most unique physical properties of nanoparticles is that they have benefits associated with drug delivery. This is mostly owing to particle size (which influences bioavailability and turnaround time), a high surface area to volume ratio (which improves solubility relative to bigger particles), an adjustable surface charge with encapsulation capacity, and the ability to accept large drug payloads. These features, which are not shared by bulk materials of the same composition, make nanoparticle drug delivery systems good candidates for further investigation in order to obtain and/or improve therapeutic effects.