Journal(of(Materials(and(( J. Mater. Environ. Sci.

, 2018, Volume 9, Issue 10, Page 2894-2903

Environmental(Sciences(
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Bio-based Synthesis and Applications of SnO2 Nanoparticles - An Overview

Soma Gorai
Department of Chemistry, Asansol Girls’ College, Asansol 713304, West Bengal, India

Abstract
Received 04 Nov 2017, Incorporation of biosynthesis technique into nanotechnology is a significant step in
Revised 13 May 2018, nanoscience research because this green protocol of synthesizing nanoparticles is cost
Accepted 20 May 2018 effective, quite safe and eco-friendly compared to the conventional chemical and
physical methods. For these reasons, in recent years, this green and bio-based route for
Keywords the preparation of nanoparticles has gained much attention, and many metal and metal
!!Biosynthesis, oxide nanoparticles have been prepared by using this method in which plant source,
!!Tin oxide nanoparticles, bacteria, fungus and some biological materials are used. Among other metal oxide
!!Applications. nanoparticles, tin oxide nanoparticles have attracted attention of researchers because of
their wide applications in different fields like catalysis, energy storage, sensors, dye-
sensitized solar cells, medicine, and optoelectronics. This review provides an overview
gorai_soma@[Link] ; of various reports of synthesis of SnO2 nanoparticles by biological means and also
focuses on the properties of these green synthesized SnO2 nanoparticles like
Phone: +917908341717
photocatalytic activity, gas sensing ability and different biomedical activities.

1. Introduction
Nanoscale oxide semiconductors have been studied enormously for their distinctive optical, electronic,
magnetic, catalytic and medicinal properties as compared with the traditional and commercial bulk materials [1-
3]. These unique properties generated researchers’ interest in the synthesis of nanoscale materials with different
sizes, shapes, and compositions. For this purpose, during the last two decades,! a vast number of physical and
chemical synthetic routes have been established. In recent years, for reducing or removing the use of toxic
chemicals, the comparatively new and largely unexplored bio-mediated green synthesis technique has been
developed. This biogenic synthesis of nanoparticles depends on the source materials [4-10] such as plants and
plant parts, bacteria, fungus and other bio-based molecules (protein, vitamin, molecules etc.) used in the
procedure. The plant phytochemicals which have antioxidant property is mainly responsible for the preparation
of metal and metal oxide nanoparticle. Besides, many biological components have abilities to act as templates in
the synthesis and help to produce a self assembled nanoscale material [11, 12]. So a novel and economically
beneficial bio-based green synthesis method may be a better alternative choice for the synthesis of metal oxide
nanoparticles compared to commonly used chemical and physical methods. Among the semiconducting
nanoparticles, Tin oxide (SnO2) has been studied intensely because of its potential applicability to lithium-ion
batteries [13], transparent conducting electrodes in ionic devices [14], anti-reflective coatings [15], solid-state
gas sensors [16], solar cells [17], catalytic support materials [18], energy storage [19], medicine [20] etc. A large
number of physical and chemical methods have already been reported in the literature to fabricate different
types of SnO2 nanostructures such as hydrothermal method [21], solvothermal [22], microwave synthesis [23],
co-precipitation method [24], sol-gel [25], spray pyrolysis [26], chemical vapor deposition [27], thermal
evaporation of oxide powders [28], rapid oxidation of elemental tin [29], micro emulsion [30] etc. However,
due to many disadvantages of these routes like toxicity of the chemicals, expensive equipment, energy waste
and environmental pollution developing facile and green methods for synthesizing tin oxide nanoparticles has
drawn much importance in the recent years and still, research is going on upon it. This review briefly
summarizes the recently reported biogenic synthesis of SnO2 nanoparticles (Nps) using plant extracts and

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biotemplates, including bacteria, amino acids, vitamin C etc. and also focuses on the properties of these green
synthesized SnO2 Nps like photocatalytic activity, gas sensing ability and different biomedical activities.
As green synthesis of SnO2 Nps becomes an interesting area of research, a number of works have been carried
out using biological organisms like bacteria, a variety of plant and plant based products, and also by some other
bio-based molecules. A list of such works is summarized in Table-1 and discussed below:

Table 1: Various sources and morphological studies of SnO2-Nps.

Green parts Name of the Morphology Size Particle size References

source (nm) determination from:
Bacterial cells Erwinia herbicola mostly 10-42 TEM [31]
spherical
Plant parts: Aloe barbadensis spherical 50 -100 SEM [32]
Leaf Miller

Aspalathus linearis quasi- 2.5-11.40 TEM [33]

Leaf spherical
Brassica oleracea agglomerated 3.55–5.8; TEM [34]
L. var. botrytis quasi-
Leaf spherical; &
&
spherical 5.28–6.34

Camellia sinensis spherical 5 to 31 HR-TEM [35]

Leaf
Cleistanthus irregular 20-40 SEM [36]
Collinus
Leaf
Daphne alpina Elongated 19.5 to 27.2 SEM [37]
shaped
Leaf
Ficus carica agglomerated 128 particle size analyzer [38]
spherical
Leaf
Plectranthus clustered 63 particle size analyzer [39]
amboinicus structure
Leaf
Tamarindus indica, Irregular, 27 XRD [19]
Ficus bengalhensis, spherical
Baringtoria
Leaf
acutagularis,
Annona Squamosa
Linn, Cyclea
peltata
Flower Nyctanthes arbor- granular 2-8 Particle size analyzer [40]
tristis
Saraca indica spherical 2.2-18.2 HRTEM [41]
Flower
Fruit Cyphomandra spherical 20-50 TEM [42]
betacea
irregular, 2.2-42.4 TEM [43]
Fruit Punica granatum spherical,
rectangular

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 Fruit peel Annona squamosa spherical 27.5 TEM [44]

Seed Persia Americana flake- like 4 XRD [45]

Piper nigrum mostly 5-30 TEM [46]

Seed spherical

Trigonella foenum- mostly 2.6–20 TEM [47]

Seed graecum spherical

Root bark Catunaregam spherical 47 ± 2 TEM [48]

spinosa

Egg shell Chicken egg spherical or 5-12 TEM [49]

membrane rectangular

Carbohydrate Starch Mostly 13 XRD [50]

spherical
Pectin Cicer arietinum L spherical ̴ 10 TEM [50]

recombinant Marine sponge spherical 50 TEM [51]

silicatein-α
Amino acid Arginin Spherical ̴ 4-5 TEM [52]

Amino acid Aspartic acid Spherical ~ 2.6 TEM [53]

Amino acid glutamic acid spherical ~1.6 TEM [53]

!
Amino acid glycine Spherical ∼6–33 TEM [54]

Amino acid L-lysine spherical ∼4–17 TEM [55]

monohydrate

Amino acid serine spherical ~4 TEM [56]

Amino acid Tyrosine Nearly ~15-20 TEM [57]

spherical
Vitamin C Ascorbic acid spherical 30 TEM [58]

Glucose Glucose granular ̴ 2-8 HRTEM [59]

2. Green Synthesis of SnO2 Nanoparticle

2.1. Bacterial cell mediated synthesis!
Different bacterial species have been used for the synthesis of various metal and metal oxide nanoparticles [60].
Researchers reported that the presence of proteins, enzymes, and the biochemical reaction pathways are
responsible for metal ion reduction [61]. The main benefit of using bacteria for the synthesis of nanoparticle is
that the large scale synthesis can be done with the minimal use of hazardous and expensive chemicals [60, 62].
This bacteria mediated synthesis process has some drawbacks also: bacterial culture techniques are time
consuming and the size, shape, and crystallinity of the nanoparticles can not be controlled properly [63].
Srivastava et al. [31] synthesized stable SnO2 Nps using fresh and clean Erwinia herbicola bacterial cells and
aqueous Tin(II) chloride solution. The sizes of the as-synthesized SnO2 Nps were observed in the range of 3−18
nm. It was also seen that the sample annealed at 150˚C for 2h produced mostly spherical shaped SnO2
nanoparticles with sizes in the range of 10−42 nm. It was stated that the biosynthesized SnO2 Nps were capped
or covered by the amino acids, proteins, or other biomolecules involved in the reaction, providing natural
! support and stability.

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2.2. Plant source-mediated synthesis
Biosynthesis of metal oxide nanoparticles from plant biomass or extracts has been considered as a green route
and is under thorough research. Although the proper mechanism for the synthesis of metal oxide nanoparticles is
not clearly known, several hypothetical mechanisms have been proposed by researchers [34-35, 64-65]. From
literature study, it can be said that phytochemicals present in plants are responsible for the formation of metal
oxide nanoparticle. It is believed that several bioactive agents which are present in plant extracts such as
alkaloids, phenolic acids, polyphenols, proteins, sugars, and terpenoids have an important role in the reduction
of metallic ions [66, 67]. The reduced metal ions may then be attached with atmospheric oxygen or with the
oxygen coming from the degrading phytochemicals to form metal oxide nanoparticles. Moreover,
phytochemicals present in the system help to prevent agglomeration between the particles [35, 60, 66, 67, 68].
Several Researchers synthesized SnO2 Nps by using extract of different plant parts of various plants which are
summarized below:

2.2.1 Using Leaf extract

Gowri et al. [32] utilized aqueous extract of Aloe barbadensis Miller (aloe vera) leaf for preparing tin
hydroxides from SnCl2.2H2O and finally it was converted to crystalline SnO2 Nps by heat treatment at the
temperature of 450˚C for 3 hours. In this method homogenous and agglomerated spherical shaped granules were
formed with the size ranging from 50 to 100 nm. Dried leaf extract of Aspalathus linearis (Rooibos) plant was
used by Diallo et al. [33]. They found that both the particle size and crystallinity of the sample increased with
the annealing temperature and the average diameter of the quasi-spherical nanoparticles was found to vary in the
range of ̴ 2.5 to 11.40 nm. The bioactive components (aspalathin, nothofagin, aspalalinin etc.) present in the leaf
extract are believed to act as chelating agents. Osuntokun et al. [34] performed an experiment using fresh
Brassica oleracea L. var. Botrytis (cauliflower) leaf extract reacting with Tin(II) chloride. It was reported that
antioxidants like polyphenols and flavonoid which are present in the cauliflower extract acted as chelating
agents and responsible for the reduction of Sn2+ ion to Sn0 metal. The size of the particles produced by annealing
at 300˚C (S1) and 450˚C (S2) were found to be in the range of 3.55–5.8 and 5.28–6.34 nm respectively and the
morphological pattern of the particles (S1) exhibited quasi-spherical shape with high agglomeration, while the
particles (S2) were spherically shaped. Selvakumari et al. reported the formation of SnO2 Nps using the leaf
extract of Camellia sinensis (Green tea) [35]. The polyphenols present in the leaf extract acts both as a capping
and stabilizing agent. The phenolic compounds capped Sn2+ is then reduced to Sn0 nanoparticles via hydroxyl
(–OH) groups of polyphenols inside the nanoscopic templates and finally converted to SnO2 Nps with aerial
oxidation. It was observed that agglomerated spherical nanoparticles were formed with sizes varying from 5 to
31 nm. The plant leaf extract of Cleistanthus Collinus was used for the synthesis of SnO2 Nps [36] and the
particles sizes were found to vary within 20-40 nm. Leaves of Daphne alpina were used to prepare mesoporous
SnO2 Nps [37] from SnCl4.5H2O precursor. It was observed from SEM images that the synthesized slightly
elongated shaped SnO2 particles were uniformly distributed having size in the ranges from 19.5 to 27.2 nm. J.
Hu [38] synthesized SnO2 Nps from an aqueous mixture of Ficus carica (Fig) leaf extract and Tin(II) chloride
solution. Volatile essential oil and flavonoids present in the leaf extract was said to be acted as capping agent on
the SnO2 Nps. An average particle size of about 128 nm was obtained. Fu et al. [39] performed the experiment
with aqueous leaf extract of Plectranthus amboinicus and found that the biosynthesized SnO2 Nps (average
diameter of 63 nm) exhibited agglomerated clustered structure. Sudhaparimala et al. [20] reported the synthesis
of Tin (IV) oxide nanoparticles by trituration of tin metal with five plants extract namely Tamarindus indica,
Ficus bengalhensis, Baringtoria acutagularis, Annona Squamosa Linn, Cyclea peltata followed by calcination.
They noticed that the impact of repeatedly grinding with plant extracts helped to reduce the particle size. An
average crystallite size of 27 nm was achieved. They found the presence microscopic level of Ca, P, Na, Mg and
Fe elements at the surface of the nano crystallite and also the presence of oxygen deficiency in the crystal lattice
which occurred due to non-stoichiometry in the crystal lattice.

2.2.2 Using Flower extract

Gandhi et al. [40] synthesized SnO2 Nps with an average size ranging from 2-8 nm using flower extract of
Nyctanthes arbor-tristis (Parijataka). Extracts of another flower, Saraca indica (Ashoka), was used to synthesize
SnO2 Nps by Vidhu et al. [41]. They studied the influence of reaction parameters like volume of extract and
temperature on the formation of tin oxide nanoparticles and found to vary the particles size from 2.2 nm to 18.2
nm.

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2.2.3. Using Fruit extract
Spherical shaped SnO2 Nps having an average size of 20-50 nm were synthesized using methanolic extract of
Cyphomandra betacea (tamarillo) fruit [42]. Kumari et al. [43] prepared SnO2 Nps using juice of ripe Punica
granatum (pomgranate) fruit and noticed that the particle size and crystallinity of the sample varied with the
variation of concentration of extract and also with increasing annealing temperature. TEM images showed that
as synthesized particles were irregularly shaped whereas the annealed samples at higher temperature were non
agglomerative, spherical or rectangular in shape. The average particle size was found to vary within the range of
2.2 to 42.4 nm.

2.2.4. Using Fruit Peel extract

Dried peel extract of Annona squamosa (sugar apple) fruit was used to synthesize stable SnO2 Nps with an
average size of 27.5 nm [44]. Water-soluble compounds containing hydroxy (-OH) functional groups present in
aqueous peel extract were said to be responsible for the stabilization of SnO2 Nps.

2.2.5. Using Seed extract

Elango et al. [45] prepared SnO2 Nps (average size ̴ 4 nm) using methanolic extract of Persia Americana
(avocado) seed and aqueous stannous chloride solution. Tammina et al. [46] synthesized tetragonal SnO2 Nps
having different sizes using Piper nigrum (black pepper) seed extract at different calcination temperatures. The
size of the particles was found to vary from 5-30 nm depending on the calcination temperature. An extract of
Trigonella foenum-graecum (fenugreek) seed was used to produce mostly spherical shaped SnO2 Nps with size
in the range 2.6–20 nm [47]. It was reported that the crystallite size of SnO2 Nps decreases with increasing the
quantity of seed extract during synthesis. .

2.2.6. Using Root bark extract

Haritha et al. [48] reported to use root bark extract of Catunaregam spinosa plant for the synthesis of SnO2 Nps.
The phytochemicals present in the root bark extract act as a capping agent for the formation of nanoparticles and
helped to prevent agglomeration.

2.3. Using other bio-based sources

Egg shell membrane of the fresh chicken egg was used by Sangami et al. [49] during the synthesis of SnO2 Nps.
They used tin oxalate as the precursor material. The formation of non-agglomerative, spherical or rectangular
shaped nanoparticles with size range from 5-12 nm was observed. The pores exist in between the interwoven
fibers (collagen and glycoprotein) of egg shell membrane controls the movement of the ions and in this way, it
helps to control the particles size of the product. .
Gattu et al. [50] synthesized SnO2 nanoparticles by using carbohydrate (starch). It was suggested that the
carbohydrates within the extract acted like an organic template which could bind several metal cations through
their functional groups (carboxyl, hydroxyl) and hence a uniform dispersion of the cations was observed. The
average size of particles was found to have 13 nm. In some other experiments [69-71] they used remnant water
collected from soaked Bengal gram beans (Cicer arietinum L.) for preparing pure and Ni, Fe and Au-doped
SnO2 Nps. Pectin, present in the extract as the natural bio"molecule was said to be responsible for biosynthesis
of SnO2 Nps. The average crystallite size of the spherically shaped pure, Ni and Au"doped SnO2 Nps were found
to be ~11 nm, 6 nm and 25 nm, respectively. In another study [71] they found that the green synthesized pure
and Fe-doped spherical particles had an average size 6 nm and 5.8 nm respectively. The morphological patterns
of both the pure and Ni"doped SnO2 Nps (calcined at 600˚C) were found to be spherical in shape.
André et al. [51] reported that recombinant silicatein-α could mediate the formation of nanostructured
crystalline SnO2 at room temperature. TEM images indicate the formation of spherical agglomerates with an
average size of 50 nm. It was said that agglomeration of the protein on the newly formed crystals helped to form
smaller size particles and the synthesized SnO2 Nps were stabilized by surface binding of silicatein through its
functional (amino and/or carboxylate) groups.
Several amino acids like arginine [52], glycine [54], lysine [55], serine [56], Tyrosine [57], glutamic acid and
aspartic acid [53] were also used for the synthesis of SnO2 Nps as amino acid has a good complexing or capping
ability. Researchers explained that the formation of SnO2 Nps by using amino acids may take place through the
consecutive steps: adduct formation (with amino acid), hydrolysis of the adduct, condensation and calcination.
Amino acid mediated synthesis provides elimination of toxic chemicals and solvents during the synthesis. The

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particles size was found to vary within ~4-5nm, ∼6–33 nm, ∼4–17 nm, ~4 nm, ~15-20 nm, ~1.6 nm, ~2.6 nm
for arginine, glycine, lysine, serine, tyrosine, glutamic acid and aspartic mediated synthesis.
The green synthesis of SnO2 Nps by using vitamin C was described by Yang et al [58]. The average size of
spherical SnO2 Nps was found to have ~ 30 nm. Vitamin C reported to act both as a reducing agent and also a
capping agent during the synthesis of SnO2 Nps. Manjula et al. [59] successfully synthesized well-defined
porous SnO2 nanospheres at low temperature using glucose as the reducing and structure directing agent.
Monodispersed and uniform-sized porous nanospheres of 50 nm consisting of a few hundred nanoparticles of ̴
2−3 nm in diameter were found to form. It was observed that though the smaller particles within the nanosphere
tend to agglomerate with calcination (size became larger ~8 nm), the overall size of the nanosphere did not
change.

3. Applications
3.1. Photocatalytic activity
Nanostructured semiconductor SnO2 acts as an excellent photocatalyst in the degradation of some common
textile dyes. Biosynthesized SnO2 nanoparticles was found to exhibit excellent photocatalytic responses for
Methylene blue (MB) and Eosin Y dye [33,42]. Diallo et al. [33] noticed that smaller size SnO2 nanoparticles
based solutions can degrade several dyes (MB, Eosin Y dye and Congo red) more effectively with a faster rate.
Another study [34] also reported about the photocatalytic activities of biosynthesized SnO2 Nps using MB under
ultraviolet light irradiation. It was found that after 180 min the degradation of MB was completed 91.89 and
88.23% by SnO2 Nps annealed at 300˚C (S1) and 450˚C (S2) respectively and the variation of degradation
efficiency was explained by the size variation of nanoparticles. The smaller size of S1 compared to S2 and
relatively high surface to volume ratio is responsible for exhibiting better photocatalytic activity. Haritha et al.
[48] studied the degradation of toxic congo red dye by using bio-synthesized SnO2 Nps, and observed the higher
percentage of degradation of the dye with the K value of 0.9212 which obeys pseudo-first order reaction
kinetics. Catalytic degradation of another organic dye, phenolsulfonphthalein (phenol red), by biosynthesized
SnO2 Nps was observed by Elango et al. [45]. It was noticed that SnO2 Nps exhibited higher degradation activity
by the catalytic action of long UV at 365 nm. Fu et al. [39] measured the photodegradation rate of rhodamine B
(Rh B) in aqueous solution under visible light by applying both the biosynthesized SnO2 Nps (S1) as well as
commercial SnO2 (S2) and compared their photocatalytic efficiency. They found that the biosynthesized SnO2
Nps exhibited a much higher performance than commercial SnO2. It was observed that S1 could degrade more
than 95% of RhB whereas S2 could degrade 42.7% after 120 min visible light irradiation at a wavelength of 553
nm. They calculated the apparent rate constant of commercial SnO2 and biosynthesized SnO2 Nps and found
0.0015 and 0.0121/min, respectively. The strong interaction between SnO2 Nps and rhodamine-B dye was also
observed by Sangami et al. [49]. It was found that synthesized SnO2 nanoparticles exhibited better
photocatalytic responses towards the degradation of rhodamine-B dye at a pH value of 9 in comparison with at
pH 4 and 7. They explained that the loss of aromaticity of pyrilium ring of the xanthene chromophore is taking
place with the addition of base to Rh-B and hence, it could degrade easily. In the acidic condition, the stability
of the moiety was enhanced which was responsible for the reduction of degradation capability. It was found that
maximum 94.48% degradation of Rh-B could be achieved upon exposure to UV light for 60 min. Srivastava et
al. [31] examined the photocatalytic activity of the biosynthesized SnO2 Nps and found that approximately 93.3,
97.8, and 94.0% degradations of methylene blue, eriochrome black T, and methyl orange dyes occurred in the
photocatalytic degradation process, respectively. They explained that the synthesized SnO2 nanoparticles
showed more pronounced photocatalytic activity due to their high specific surface area, which provides
maximum exposure for reactant to the active site. Bhattacharjee and coworkers [52, 53, 56] reported degradation
of some common dyes like methylene blue, eosin Y, methyl violet 6B, etc. under solar irradiation. The method
is a very cost effective method and scalable to large extent compared to common UV assisted photo degradation
technique. Begum et al. [55] also studied the dye removal using lysine mediated green synthesized 5 nm SnO2
nanoparticles. They observed the photocatalytic property of SnO2 Nps in the degradation of malachite green
oxalate and Victoria blue dyes from aqueous phase under direct sunlight within 120 min. It was reported that
pseudo first order reaction was followed for both the dyes and the rate of the constant (k) of photodegradation of
malachite green oxalate dye and Victoria blue was found to be 1.6 × 10−2 min−1 and 1.06 × 10−2 min−1,
respectively. Manjula et al. [59] found the potentiality of green synthesized SnO2 Nps towards the complete
degradation of another dye, methyl orange. The activity of SnO2 Nps towards the photocatalytic degradation of
Violet 4 BSN dye was investigated under 125W UV lamp (Hg lamp, λmax 254nm) by Tamina et al. [57]. From
experimental study, they found that the time required for complete degradation of dye decreased with the

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increase in catalyst dosage whereas the increasing the dye concentration led to the decrease in degradation
efficiency to 96%.

3.2. Catalytic Property for reduction of aromatic compounds

Researchers [55, 72] utilized SnO2 nanoparticles for the reduction of p-nitrophenol into p-aminophenol in
aqueous medium and found that SnO2 Nps can act as an efficient catalyst for the reduction of p-nitrophenol in
presence of NaBH4. It was proposed that in the catalytic reduction, the SnO2 Nps act as catalysts to transfer
electrons from BH4- ion to the p-nitrophenol. Begum et al reported that at particular concentrations of the
materials 27 min was required for the completion of reduction process of 4-nitrophenol [55] whereas in the
absence of the catalyst, the reduction did not start even after 5 h. The investigation revealed that the kinetics of
the reduction followed the pseudo first order reaction with a rate constant (k) 9.3 × 10−4 s−1.

3.3. Gas sensing property

Selective detection of various gases is very important for monitoring environmental pollution. Gas sensors are
used to detect various gases for monitoring the changes in the ambient gas atmosphere. Metal oxide based gas
sensors devices are in the use for the last couple of decades [69-72]. Gattu et al. [50] found the promising NH3
gas sensing property of biosynthesised SnO2 Nps thin film at room temperature. They [69, 70] also observed the
gas sensing property of biosynthesized Ni and Au"doped SnO2 nanoparticles for NO2 gas. It was noticed that
NO2 gas sensing response was relatively higher for biosynthesized Ni"doped SnO2 compared to chemically
synthesized Ni"doped SnO2. The efficiency of the sensor was found to increase with Ni doping for both the
samples (biosynthesized and chemically synthesized). The reason for that may be the decrease of particle size
with Ni doping, which exposed larger surface area for adsorption of NO2 gas [73]. They also compared the gas
sensing properties of Ni doped SnO2 towards other gases like NH3, LPG and H2S. It was found that the gas
sensor of ‘Ni"doped SnO2’ exhibited excellent selectivity to NO2 gas when compared to other gases. Gas sensors
based on the biosynthesized Ni"doped SnO2 showed gas response of 40 at 100 ppm of NO2 gas. It was also
found that Gas sensor based on the Au-doped SnO2 showed the gas response of ~30% for 100 ppm of NO2 gas
[70]. In another study [71] Gattu et al. examined the gas sensing properties of biosynthesized pure and Fe"doped
SnO2 Nps for NH3 gas. They found that the response for 100 ppm NH3 gas was to be 28% for pure SnO2 and
46% for Fe-doped SnO2 nanoparticle thin film. Li et al. [74] found that the green synthesized SnO2 materials
exhibited highly sensitive, fast-responding and size selective sensing behaviours. They observed that the gas-
sensor properties are strongly structure-dependent. It was seen that in comparison with the mesoporous SnO2
layers sensors the response of the SnO2 nanocrystallites having microporous structures toward H2 is much larger
than the response to CO. Manjula et al. [59] found that the green synthesized SnO2 materials exhibited excellent
gas sensing capabilities. They investigated that the incorporation of 0.5 wt % Pd into SnO2 matrix increased the
sensitivity and made it highly selective for low temperature hydrogen detection. It was also reported that with a
response time of 10 s the material was able to respond to even 50 ppm H2 in N2 at room temperature.

3.4. Cd2+, Hg2+ sensor

Haq et al. [37] performed the sorption studies of Cd2+ ions by biosynthesized SnO2 Nps at pH 4 and 6. It was
found that with the increase in both pH of the solution and also with the temperature adsorption of the Cd2+ ions
was enhanced. Junjie Hu [38] successfully used the biosynthesized SnO2 Nps as electrode modifier for
electrochemically detection of Hg2+. It was found that the SnO2/GCE exhibited a linear relationship within the
Hg2+ concentration range from 0.001 to 1.5 µM.

3.5. Antibacterial activity

Vidhu et al [41] studied the antibacterial activity of the SnO2 Nps against gram negative Escherichia coli
bacteria. It was observed that the bactericidal potency was enhanced with the increase in concentration of
nanoparticles and hence, it was stated that higher concentration of SnO2 Nps was significant in bactericidal
effect. Due to the large surface area the activity of the nanoparticles increases, therefore SnO2 Nps react
efficiently with the cell membrane and inactivate the bacteria [75]. Kamraj et al. [36] also investigated the
antibacterial activities of SnO2 Nps against a gram negative strain, [Link] and compared the activity with a gram
positive strain, [Link]. They observed that [Link] showed more significant activity than [Link] and
explained the phenomenon as the cell wall is absent in [Link] but it is present in [Link], hence the
nanoparticles could easily be entered into the [Link] causing more cell damage than that of [Link]. Kumari et
al. [43] studied the antibacterial activity of as prepared SnO2 Nps on microorganism [Link] and found that the

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growth inhibition zone on [Link] was increased with increase in concentration of nanoparticles. Gowri et al. [32]
also noticed the antibacterial activity of biosynthesized SnO2 Nps towards both the [Link] and [Link]. They
found that SnO2 nanoparticles exhibited more inhibition with [Link], a gram positive strain compared with
[Link], a gram negative strain.

3.6. Antioxidant activity

The antioxidant activity of biosynthesized SnO2 Nps was examined by monitoring the ability of quenching of
the stable 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) radical (deep violet colour) into nonradical form (yellow
colour) [41]. It was observed that the colour of DPPH gradually changed from deep violet to pale yellow in the
presence of SnO2 Nps which indicate the scavenging action and conversion of DPPH to DPPH-H. It was
reported that the radical scavenging efficiency depends on various factors such as particle size, morphology and
defects. The scavenging activity of the annealed sample was found to decrease in comparison to that of the as
prepared sample. Kamraj et al. [36] observed the significant DPPH scavenging activity of the biosynthesized
SnO2 Nps. The antioxidant activity was found to increase with the increase of the concentration of synthesized
nanoparticles and also with reaction time. Sudhaparimala et al. [20] also examined the antioxidant property of
biosynthesized nanoscale SnO2. They calculated the free radical equivalent of DPPH radical of the sample and
found that it was 0.8026 for per mg of the sample. Kumari et al. [43] determined the radical scavenging activity
of SnO2 Nps using DPPH assay and noticed that the annealed sample exhibited a lower scavenging activity in
comparison to the as-prepared sample. The decrease in activity with the increase in annealing temperature might
be due to the decrease in surface area to volume ratio due to increased crystallite size. They also found that the
antioxidant activity increased with the increase in sample dosage.

3.7. Anti cancer activity

Tamina et al. [46] had studied the cytotoxic effect of size specific SnO2 Nps on colorectal (HCT116) and Lung
(A549) cancer cell lines. It was found that the generated Reactive oxygen species (ROS) was responsible for
cytotoxicity of SnO2 Nps to the studied cancer cells. They also observed that smaller size Nps exhibited higher
cytotoxicity over larger size Nps due to the generation of more ROS in the former case. Roopan et al. [44] found
the cytotoxic effect of biosynthesized SnO2 Nps on hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (HepG2). It was reported
that with the increase of concentration of SnO2 Nps (upto 500 µg/mL) cytotoxicity of SnO2 Nps on
hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (HepG2) was also increased. The calculated IC50 value of SnO2 particles
was found 148 µg/mL.

3.8. Body weight increasing

Yang et al. [58] studied the effect of vitamin-C stabilized SnO2 Nps on the body weight of neonatal rats and
observed that the vitamin-C stabilized SnO2 Nps promoted a higher body weight gain compared to raw
SnO2 Nps. It was said that when vitamin-C stabilized SnO2 entered into the body system of rats, vitamin-C
capped on the surface of SnO2 Nps acted as an antioxidant and reduced the oxidative stress caused by SnO2 Nps
on cells, resulting in reduced weight loss in the rats.

Conclusion
The green biosynthesis method is an economically beneficial and easy process which could eliminate several
problems associated with the use of toxic reagents in the chemical synthesis procedure. The present review
summarises the literature for an understanding of the synthesis of SnO2 Nps by using different biological
sources. It can be seen that several scientists worldwide have been extending their knowledge in the
development of eco-friendly bio-based routes for synthesis of nanomaterials, with desired shapes and controlled
sizes and focuses on their potential applications in various fields, however, in order to utilise maximum potential
of this system the role of functional groups in synthesis of nanoparticles should be studied in detail in future.
This review may be helpful for researchers to plan their future research work on the green synthesis of SnO2
Nps and focusing on their application in the said fields.

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