The rapid development of medicine has forced equally rapid progress in the field of pharmaceuticals. In connection with the expensive and time-consuming process of finding new drugs, great emphasis is put on the design and use of metal and metal oxides nanoparticles in nanomedicine. The main focus is on comprehensive presentation of both physicochemical properties and the possibilities of using, in particular, silver (Ag) and gold (Au) nanoparticles, as well as zinc oxide (ZnO) and titanium oxide (TiO2) nanoparticles as drug carriers and in the treatment of cancer. An important element of this subject is the possibility of occurrence of toxic effects of these nanoparticles. For this reason, possible mechanisms of toxic actions are presented, as well as methods used to reduce their toxicity to ensure the safety of drug carriers based on these nanostructures.

Multifunctional materials have become an important research subject in recent years. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NP) deposited on iron oxide (Fe 3 O 4) allow to obtain material with photocatalytic and magnetic properties. The mass share of Fe 3 O 4 in the composite was 30%. Saturation magnetization for this sample was about 9.5 emu/g. The use of magnetic material allows to recover the photocatalyst after the photodegradation process and reuse it. The possibility of recovery of Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles with a magnet was estimated at 94.80%, while the recovery of Fe 3 O 4 /ZnO achieved 83.91%. The effects of the type of dyes (Methylene Blue, Methyl Orange, Quinoline Yellow, Eriochromic Black T and Trypanic Blue) on their photodegradation efficiency in terms of molar mass of the dye, the solvent in which the processes were carried out and the type of dye charge were investigated. The photocatalytic material showed higher photodegradation activity of dyes while increasing their molar mass. ZnO NPs deposited on Fe 3 O 4 presented 95.61% photocatalytic efficiency against Trypan Blue and 63.02% against Methylene Blue. Increasing the surface area of the catalyst to 39 m 2 /g and the presence of micro-, meso-and macropores had a positive effect on the sorption process of dyes, especially those of larger sizes, allowing their degradation in the photodegradation process.

Silver and copper nanoparticles (AgNPs and CuNPs) have attracted worldwide attention due to their unique antimicrobial properties. Ethanol and water extracts of hawthorn fruit were chosen to prepare AgNPs and CuNPs. The effects of the pH, contact time, temperature of the solution, type of precursor of metal ions and type of hawthorn extract on the size distribution of particles were studied. The monodispersed and stable AgNPs and CuNPs were prepared with an average size of 60 nm and 200 nm, respectively. Total phenolic content and the anthocyanin content of extracts were determined. The antimicrobial activities of AgNPs and CuNPs were carried out with a series of microbial assays.

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The use of flow technologies for obtaining nanoparticles can play an important role in the development of ecological and sustainable processes for obtaining inorganic nanomaterials, and the continuous methods are part of the Flow Chemistry trend.