processes Review New Perspectives on Iron-Based Nanostructures Seyedeh-Masoumeh Taghizadeh 1,2, Aydin Berenjian 3,*, Marziyeh Zare 4 and Alireza Ebrahiminezhad 5,* 1 Biotechnology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz 71468-64685, Iran;
[email protected] 2 Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz 71468-64685, Iran 3 School of Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, The University of Waikato, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand 4 Department of Molecular Medicine, School of Advanced Medical Sciences and Technologies, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz 71336-54361, Iran;
[email protected] 5 Department of Medical Nanotechnology, School of Advanced Medical Sciences and Technologies, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz 71336-54361, Iran * Correspondence:
[email protected] (A.B.);
[email protected] (A.E.) Received: 5 August 2020; Accepted: 24 August 2020; Published: 10 September 2020 Abstract: Among all minerals, iron is one of the elements identified early by human beings to take advantage of and be used. The role of iron in human life is so great that it made an era in the ages of humanity. Pure iron has a shiny grayish-silver color, but after combining with oxygen and water it can make a colorful set of materials with divergent properties. This diversity sometimes appears ambiguous but provides variety of applications. In fact, iron can come in different forms: zero-valent iron (pure iron), iron oxides, iron hydroxides, and iron oxide hydroxides. By taking these divergent materials into the nano realm, new properties are exhibited, providing us with even more applications.