Amino Acids Functionalized Inorganic Metal Nanoparticles: Synthetic Nanozymes for Target Specific Binding, Sensing and Catalytic Applications

The design and synthesis of surface engineered functional inorganic nanomaterials for environmental applications is a long-standing goal of biomimetic research. Further developments in using nanomaterials for environmental engineering applications rely upon their surface modification, efficient sensing, stability under harsh conditions, biocompatibility, and less adverse environmental impact. Therefore, in this chapter, we review the amino acid functionalized inorganic nanomaterials, class of emerging materials that can address the afore-mentioned challenges to realize their environmental applications. These nanomaterials structurally mimic the characteristics of natural enzymes chirality, molecular recognition catalytic properties as well as possess the inherent electronic, optical, and catalytic properties of nanoparticles.