Microbial Processes for Synthesizing Nanomaterials (Environmental and Microbial Biotechnology)

This contributed volume compiles the latest improvements in the field of nanobiotechnology, with a special emphasis on microbial-synthesized nanoparticles. It focuses on topics that comprise the microbials synthesized nanoparticles, their characterization, and applications in the field of medicine and biotechnology, which are organized in three parts, respectively. Ranging from micro-scale studies to macro, it covers a huge domain of nanotechnology in relevance to microbiology. Overall, the book portrays the importance of microbial processes in the sustainable production of nanomaterials to reduce the environmental burden caused by nanomaterials produced by chemical processes. The book is a ready reference for practicing students, researchers of nanobiotechnology, environmental biotechnology, and other allied fields likewise.           

Maria Conceição Branco da Silva Montenegro (1957) is a full professor at the Laboratory of Applied Chemistry, Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy atthe University of Porto (FFUP), Portugal, in the fields of Analytical Chemistry and Applied Chemistry. She graduated with her bachelor's degree (1980) and PhD (1991) in Pharmacy with specialization in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of Porto. She is a senior researcher at LAQV/REQUIMTE, a Portuguese Research Centre for Sustainable Chemistry, where she leads a unit of sensors and biosensors. Her main research activities are related to the development of sensor platforms with potentiometric and electrochemical transduction for food, pharmaceutical, clinical, and environmental control. She also extended her area of expertise looking for new polymeric membrane approaches for retention and separation, applied to clinical, bioanalytical, and environmental concerns and new degradation methods for environmental remediation. She has published over 200 articles, 7 book chapters, and 3 patents; supervised more than 20 PhD students; and led more than 15 scientific projects. She maintains several research collaborations with foreign universities, namely Charles University (Czech Republic), Technical University of Manabí (Ecuador), Federal University of Pernambuco (Brazil), and Instituto de Química, Universidade de Campinas (Brazil) collaborating in research projects and in the supervision of students.Ram Prasad, PhD, is associated with Department of Botany, Mahatma Gandhi Central University, Motihari, Bihar, India. His research interest includes applied and environmental microbiology, plant-microbe interactions, sustainable agriculture, and nanobiotechnology. Dr. Prasad has more than two hundred publications to his credit, including research papers, review articles and book chapters, and six patents issued or pending, and edited or authored several books. He has twelve years of teaching experience and has been awarded the Young Scientist Award and Prof. J.S. Datta Munshi Gold Medal by the International Society for Ecological Communications; FSAB fellowship by the Society for Applied Biotechnology; the American Cancer Society UICC International Fellowship for Beginning Investigators, USA; Outstanding Scientist Award in the field of Microbiology; BRICPL Science Investigator Award and Research Excellence Award. He has been serving as editorial board members of BMC Microbiology, BMC Biotechnology, Current Microbiology, Archives of Microbiology, Annals of Microbiology, IET Nanobiotechnology, Journal of Renewable Material, Archives of Phytopathology and Plant Protection, Journal of Agriculture and Food Research, and Environmental Science and Ecotechnology including Series editor of Nanotechnology in the Life Sciences, Springer Nature, USA. He also served as Assistant Professor, Amity University, Uttar Pradesh, India; Visiting Assistant Professor, Whiting School of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, United States; and Research Associate Professor at School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.