Surface Plasmon Resonance or Biocompatibility—Key Properties for Determining the Applicability of Noble Metal Nanoparticles

Metal and in particular noble metal nanoparticles represent a very special class of materials which can be applied as prepared or as composite materials. In most of the cases, two main properties are exploited in a vast number of publications: biocompatibility and surface plasmon resonance (SPR). For instance, these two important properties are exploitable in plasmonic diagnostics, bioactive glasses/glass ceramics and catalysis. The most frequently applied noble metal nanoparticle that is universally applicable in all the previously mentioned research areas is gold, although in the case of bioactive glasses/glass ceramics, silver and copper nanoparticles are more frequently applied. The composite partners/supports/matrix/scaffolds for these nanoparticles can vary depending on the chosen application (biopolymers, semiconductor-based composites: TiO(2), WO(3), Bi(2)WO(6), biomaterials: SiO(2) or P(2)O(5)-based glasses and glass ceramics, polymers: polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), Gelatin, polyethylene glycol (PEG), polylactic acid (PLA), etc.). The scientific works on these materials’ applicability and the development of new approaches will be targeted in the present review, focusing in several cases on the functioning mechanism and on the role of the noble metal.