摘要：

There is growing use of nanofillers in a variety of polymeric materials to be used as effective antimicrobial agent against various fungi, gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. A wide variety of nanoparticles are available, such as silver, zinc, selenium, gold, oxides of copper, zinc and titanium, titanium oxide, hexagonal boron nitride, graphene, graphene oxide, reduced graphene oxide, carbon nanotubes, etc., acting as active components that enhance the toxic properties of both natural and synthetic polymers on which they are dispersed. Natural nanofillers have gained attraction due to their abundance, nontoxicity, and biodegradability. Their antimicrobial activity can be manipulated by preferable substitution of numerous functional groups present on their surface. The biocide activity of the nanofillers owes to its toxic nature; small size ranging in nanoscale, which has large surface to volume ratio; facile penetration in bacterial cell membrane, release of toxic chemical species, and its capacity to disrupt the important biochemical functioning of the cell, which damage the bacterial cell and interference with the biochemical functioning of the cell. These antimicrobial nanofillers when blended with polymers used in day-to-day life render high economic value, which prevents the accumulation of pathogens in their vicinity and finds a wide range of applications as wrapping material in food industry, packing of surgical devices, household napkins, coating leather products, paints, medical devices, and antifouling agents.

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