In materials science, “green” synthesis has gained extensive attention as a reliable, sustainable, and eco-friendly protocol for synthesizing a wide range of materials/nanomaterials including metal/metal oxides nanomaterials, hybrid materials, and bioinspired materials. As such, green synthesis is regarded as an important tool to reduce the destructive effects associated with the traditional methods of synthesis for nanoparticles commonly utilized in laboratory and industry. In this review, we summarized the fundamental processes and mechanisms of “green” synthesis approaches, especially for metal and metal oxide [e.g., gold (Au), silver (Ag), copper oxide (CuO), and zinc oxide (ZnO)] nanoparticles using natural extracts. Importantly, we explored the role of biological components, essential phytochemicals (e.g., flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenoids, amides, and aldehydes) as reducing agents and solvent systems. The stability/toxicity of nanoparticles and the associated surface engineering techniques for achieving biocompatibility are also discussed. Finally, we covered applications of such synthesized products to environmental remediation in terms of antimicrobial activity, catalytic activity, removal of pollutants dyes, and heavy metal ion sensing.

Recently, the potential role of MOFs/PCPs has been recognized in AQM due to their intrinsically tunable chemical structure and multifunctional properties which afford significant enhancements in adsorption capacities, catalytic degradation, and removal of diverse airborne pollutants.

Advances in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) resulted in significant contributions to diverse applications such as carbon capture, gas storage, heat transformation and separation along with emerging applications toward catalysis, medical imaging, drug delivery, and sensing. The unique in situ and ex situ structural features of MOFs can be tailored by conceptual selection of the organic (e.g.,ligand) and inorganic (e.g., metal) components. Here, we provide a comprehensive review on the synthesis and characterization of MOFs, particularly with respect to controlling their size and morphology. A better understanding of the specific size and morphological parameters of MOFs will help initiate a new era for their real-world applications. Most importantly, this assessment will help develop novel synthesis methods for MOFs and their hybrid/porous materials counterparts with considerably improved properties in targeted applications.