ABSTRACT
Nanoparticles are molecules that range from 1 to 100 nm in size and act as a single unit with respect to their properties. Nanoparticles have been synthesized chemically and are found to have application in a broad range of industries. The increasing advantages of nanoparticles have led to the green synthesis of nanoparticles by using plants and microorganisms. The next era of green-synthesized nanoparticles is nanobiocomposites. A nanobiocomposite is a molecule in which an inorganic m oiety is combined with a naturally occurring polymer and has at least one dimension on the nanom eter scale. Research on
the development of nanobiocomposites started about two decades ago, and several naturally occurring polymers, such as cellulose, starch, clays, and wood fibers, and also metal nanoparticles synthesized from bacterial and plant sources have been used for the production of nanobiocomposites. Various types of nanocomposites, such as composites of cellulose and metal nanoparticles, polymer and clay, polymer and carbon, and polymer and graphene, have been studied extensively and are found to have great importance. These bionanocomposites show various advantageous characteristics, such as low toxicity, low cost, biocompatibility, biodegradability, and extrem e stability. These bionanocomposites also work well with biological as well as inorganic moieties, making them highly preferable for various industrial processes and advancements. Bionanocomposites have been found to have potent applications in several fields, such as food packaging and electronics. In the present chapter, industrial applications of bionanocomposites have been discussed in detail.
