Silver Nano Particles | Image Resource : 5.imimg.com
 

Over the past couple of years, there have been significant changes and advances in nanotechnology and nanoscience. This has been extremely helpful when it comes to diagnosing, treating and trying to prevent different types of diseases found in human beings. There are several nanoparticles that are involved in the application in the field of biomedical.
 
The most popular nanoparticles these days in bioscience are silver nano particles.AgNPs is another name for silver nano particles. Being nano particles of silver, they are described of being silver with a composition of the presence of a very large percentage of silver oxide. This is due to the large surface ratio to bulk the silver atoms.

Depending on the application, a wide variety of shapes can be created but the most commonly used nano particles are spherical. It is also said that octagonal, thin sheets and diamond shapes are also extremely popular.
 

The coordination of countless ligands is possible due to the presence of a surface area that is enormously large. However, the inclusion of silver nanoparticles for human treatment is still under investigation. Different types of researches such as costs, toxicity, animal studies and assessing of potential efficiency is still undergoing in several laboratories.
 
There are several applications of this particular nano particle because it is not only being used in several technologies but also being incorporated into different types of consumer products. These products make use of the antibacterial, conductive and optical properties of the nano particles that are silver
 
1. Antibacterial applications: Different apparels like paints, footwear, wound dressings, cosmetics, appliances, plastics etc. are incorporated with this nano particle due to their antibacterial properties.
 
2. Conductive applications: Several composites and conductive inks are incorporated with this nano particle in order to enhance the electrical and thermal conductivity.
 
3. Optical Applications: It helps in enhancing SERS or surface-enhanced Raman scattering and MEF which is also known as metal-enhanced fluorescence by harvesting light in an efficient manner.
 
4. Diagnostic Application: This is one thing that is gradually taking pace over time and being used in biosensors as several analysists have suggested that the nano particles that have silver in them can act as biological tags in order for quantitative detection.
 

Other than being a vital point in nanomedicine, there are other features of this nano particle as well. It is a known fact that noble metals can be used for a wide variety of purposes but this particular nano particle is a potential application for cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Several data compilation have predicted that silver nano particles induce toxicity in the neurons. This also involves the degradation of the cytoskeleton component which leads to several other chemical reactions and finally leads to the death of the cell. The prolific usage of this nano particle has often been restricted due to potentially detrimental effect of silver nano particle on the physiological functions and neuronal development.