Title : Recent advances in experimental plasma setups, plasma parameters, nanoparticle fabrication and their applications in diagnostics and therapeutics

Plasma polymerized nanoparticles (PPNs) have become a multifunctional and versatile class of nanomaterials due to their numerous biomedical applications and tunable synthesis employing various simple plasma-based facilities. This review gives a brief discussion of various experimental plasma configurations, important plasma parameters, how dusty plasmas can be useful in the nucleation and growth of nanoparticles, plasma assisted nanoparticles fabrication, their extraction techniques and the uses of thusly generated nanoparticles in diagnostics and therapy. The different plasma configurations are covered such as low-pressure and atmospheric plasma facilities in terms of their impact on the size of the particles, their morphology, and their surface chemistry.

The processes of the plasma polymerization are exhibited, including gas-phase fragmentation, nucleation, and the preparation of the surface-active nanoparticles with scalable capabilities. Also, the versatile diagnostic and nanoparticle extraction methods are summarized to correlate physics of plasma with the nanomaterial’s properties.

Lastly, the review presents the increasing potential of PPNs in diagnostic and therapeutic uses and especially because of their surface reactivity and their compatibility with the biological frameworks. In general, this article brings a consistent interpretation of plasma polymerized nanoparticles and their relevance in the development of functional nanomaterials.

Muhammad Mudassar is a PhD researcher in Physics at the University of Sydney, Australia, with an MPhil in Applied Physics from the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan. His research interests include plasma physics, nanomaterials, 2D materials, plasma-assisted material synthesis, and hydrogen production. He has research experience in atmospheric-pressure plasma systems and the growth and characterization of hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets. His work has been published in international journals, including Diamond and Related Materials and Physics of Plasmas. He has expertise in XRD, FTIR, SEM, EDX, TEM, UV-Vis spectroscopy, and surface characterization techniques.