Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Government College University, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan; Department of Environmental Sciences, The University of Lahore, Lahore 54590, Pakistan
  • 2 Department of Environmental Sciences, The University of Lahore, Lahore 54590, Pakistan
  • 3 Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan
  • 4 Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Government College University, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan. Electronic address: madrees@gcuf.edu.pk
  • 5 Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Government College University, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan. Electronic address: mrazi1532@yahoo.com
  • 6 Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Government College University, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan; Department of Biological Sciences and Technology, China Medical University, Taichung 40402, Taiwan. Electronic address: shafaqataligill@yahoo.com
  • 7 Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Vehari-Campus, 61100 Vehari, Pakistan
  • 8 Universiti Teknologi, Malaysia
Ecotoxicol Environ Saf, 2021 Apr 01;212:111978.
PMID: 33561774 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2021.111978

Abstract

Nanotechnology is capturing great interest worldwide due to their stirring applications in various fields. Among nanoparticles (NPs), titanium dioxide (TiO2) NPs have been widely used in daily life and can be synthesized through various physical, chemical, and green methods. Green synthesis is a non-toxic, cost-effective, and eco-friendly route for the synthesis of NPs. Plenty of work has been reported on the green, chemical, physical and biological synthesis of TiO2 NPs and these NPs can be characterized through high tech. instruments. In the present review, dense data have been presented on the comparative synthesis of TiO2 NPs with different characteristics and their wide range of applications. Among the TiO2 NPs synthesis techniques, the green methods have been proven to be efficient than chemical synthesis methods because of the less use of precursors, time-effectiveness, and energy-efficiency during the green synthesis procedures. Moreover, this review describes the types of plants (shrubs, herbs and trees), microorganisms (bacteria, fungi and algae), biological derivatives (proteins, peptides, and starches) employed for the synthesis of TiO2 NPs. The TiO2 NPs can be effectively used for the treatment of polluted water and positively affected the plant physiology especially under abiotic stresses but the response varied with types, size, shapes, doses, duration of exposure, metal species along with other factors. This review also highlights the regulating features and future standpoints for the measurable enrichment in TiO2 NPs product and perspectives of TiO2 NPs reliable application.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.