Table 5.

Comparison of testing of lignin‐, silica‐, and carbon‐based nano‐ and microscaled materials on living organisms.

Test type	Lignin‐based materials	Inorganic NPs	Carbon‐based nanomaterials[a]
In vitro
antiviral	no published studies	Ag NPs131	functionalized fullerenes132, 133, 134
antibacterial	Ag‐infused NPs (SKL),117 lignin‐capped Ag NPs (AL),135, 136 silica/lignin–Ag NPs (KL),116 acid‐precipitated lignin particles (AL)6	Ag NPs,137 silica NPs (4 nm),138 nitric oxide‐ releasing silica NPs139	SWCNTs140 fullerenes141
antifungal	lignin‐capped Ag NPs (AL)135	Ag NPs,142 amphotericin B‐conjugated silica NPs143	functionalized MWCNTs144
anticancer	lignin NPs with active substances (AL[b]),66 lignin‐derived carbon dots (LS),61 emulsified trans‐resveratrol (SLS)145	silica NPs146 silica NPs loaded with active substances147	fullerenes148 crystalline fullerenes127
cell viability	lignin microcapsules (KL),54 LNPs (SKL),64 nanoemulsion encapsulating trans‐resveratrol (SLS),147 lignin‐derived carbon nanodots61	silica NPs,149, 150 polyamidoamine dendrimer‐capped silica NPs151	C NPs,129 MWCNTs,129 crystalline fullerenes127
In vivo
	resveratrol‐entrapped LNPs (AL[a]),66 doxorubicin‐entrapped LNPs,65 methotrexate adsorbed on sugarcane bagasse soda lignin.77	silica NPs,120, 121, 122 Ag NPs123, 124, 125, 126	C nanodots,130 SWCNTs,128 crystalline fullerenes127

[a] SWCNTs—single‐walled carbon nanotubes; MWCNTs—multi‐walled carbon nanotubes. [b] Isolated from hydrothermally treated corn cobs.