Table 1.

Antimicrobial activity of monometallic and metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs).

NPs	Size (nm)	Bacteria	Mode of Action	Synthesis	Ref.
Ag	10	V. natriegens	DNA damage and cell membrane rupture by reactive oxygen species (ROS)	Green catalysis	[25]
Au	20	S. pneumoniae	Cell lysis	Chemical reduction	[26]
Pd	13–18	S. aureus, S. pyrogens, B. subtilis	Cell membrane destruction and apoptosis	Biosynthesis (plant)	[27]
Ga	305	M. tuberculosis	Reduction of the growth of mycobacterium	Homogenizer	[28]
Cu	15–25	S. aureus, B. subtilis	Synergistic effects of organic functional groups	Biosynthesis (plant)	[29]
Pt	2–5	E. coli, A. hydrophila	Decrease in the bacterial cell viability and ROS generation	Chemical reduction	[30]
Si	90–100	S. aureus, P. aeruginosa	Mechanical damage of the bacterial membrane	Laser ablation	[31]
Se	117	Klebsiella sp.	Production of ROS, disruption of the phospholipid bilayer	Biosynthesis (plant)	[32]
	55.9	B. subtilis, E. coli	Ionic interaction between NPs and bacteria-caused cell damage	Biosynthesis (plant)	[33]
	85	E. coli, S. aureus	Cell membrane damage due to action of ROS	Laser ablation	[34]
Ni	60	P. aeruginosa	Cell membrane destruction	Biosynthesis (plant)	[35]
Mn	50–100	S. aureus, E. coli	Inactivation of proteins and decrease in the membrane permeability	Biosynthesis (plant)	[36]
Fe	474	E. coli.	Attraction between negatively charged cell membrane and NPs	Biosynthesis (plant)	[37]
Bi	40	B. anthracis, C. jejuni, E. coli, M. arginini	Inhibition of protein synthesis	Chemical condensation	[38]
Ag2O	10–60	S. mutans, L. acidophilus	Penetration of the cells and hindrance of the growth of the pathogen	Biosynthesis (plant)	[39]
CuO	60	B. cereus	Disturbance of various biochemical processes when copper ions invade inside the cells	Biosynthesis (plant)	[40]
ZnO	30	A. baumannii	Increase in the production of ROS	Sol–gel and biosynthesis	[41]
TiO2	9.2	E. coli	Decomposition of outer cell membrane by ROS, primarily hydroxyl radicals (OH·)	Biosynthesis (plant)	[42]
NiO	40–100	B. subtilis, E. coli	Induction of membrane damage by oxidative stress created at the NiO NP interface	Hydrothermal	[43]
Fe3O4	25–40	S. aureus, E. coli, S. dysentery	Cellular enzyme deactivation and disruption in plasma membrane permeability	Coprecipitation	[44]
α-Fe2O3	16	B. subtilis, S. aureus, E. coli, K. pneumonia	Desorption of membrane by the generated free radicals, including O2· and OH·	Biosynthesis (plant)	[45]
CaO	58	E. coli, S. aureus, K. pneumonia	Cell membrane destruction	Biosynthesis (plant)	[46]
MgO	27	Bacillus sp., E. coli	Destruction of cell membrane integrity resulting in leakage of intracellular materials	Ultrasonication	[47]
Al2O3	30–50	F. oxysporum, S. typhi, A. flavus, C. violaceum	Decomposition of bacterial outer membranes by ROS	Biosynthesis (fungi)	[48]
CeO2	5–20	L. monocytogenes, E. coli, B. cereus	ROS generation by CeO2 as a pro-oxidant	Precipitation	[49]
Mn3O4	130	K. pneumonia, P. aeruginosa	Membrane damage of bacterial cells by the easy penetration of Mn3O4 NPs	Hydrothermal	[50]
ZrO2	2.5	S. mutans, S. mitis, R. dentocariosa, R. mucilaginosa	Enhancement of the interactions between NPs and bacterial constituents	Solvothermal	[51]
Ag2S	65	Phormidium spp.	Inhibition of cell membrane by Ag2S NPs, resulting in harmful effects on other biological activities	Chemical reduction	[52]
ZnS	65	Streptococcus sp., S. aureus, Lactobacillus sp., C. albicans	Dischargement of ions, which react with the thiol groups in the proteins present on the cell membrane	Biosynthesis (bacteria)	[53]
CdS	25	Streptococcus sp., S. aureus, Lactobacillus sp., C. albicans	Impregnation and surrounding the bacterial cells by CdS NPs	Biosynthesis (bacteria)	[53]
FeS	35	S. aureus, E. coli, E. faecalis	NP internalization through the fine cell membrane	Hydrothermal	[54]
Mn-MOF	˗	E. coli, E. faecalis, S. aureus, P. aeruginosa	Peptide–nalidixic acid conjugate formation	Mechanochemical	[55]
Mg-MOF	˗	E. coli, E. faecalis, S. aureus, P. aeruginosa	Peptide–nalidixic acid conjugate formation	Mechanochemical	[55]
Ag-MOF	˗	S. aureus	High stability in water and the existence of Ag ion	Solvothermal	[56]
Cu-MOF	˗	S. aureus, E. coli, K. pneumonia, P. aeruginosa, S. aureus	Attachment to the bacterial surfaces by active surface metal sites in Cu-MOF	Hydrothermal	[57]
Zn-MOF	˗	P. aeruginosa	Penetration inside the bacteria, causing cell damage by interaction with lipotropic acid	Solvothermal	[58]
Co-MOF	˗	E. coli	Strong interaction with membranes containing glycerophosphoryl moieties	Hydro-solvothermal	[59]