Abstract

Introduction: The present study aimed at investigating the antimicrobial effect of Ag/SiO2 embedded in (3-mercaptopropyl) trimethoxysilane (TPS) and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) by employing the sol-gel method. The connection between the Ag/SiO2 and the sol-gel matrix relied on the coordination bonds between the sulfur group at the top of the TPS molecule and the silver atoms on the surface of Ag/SiO2 nanoparticles (NPs).

Method: In order to characterize the structure and the morphology of Ag/SiO2 nanocomposite the field emission scanning of electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used. The release of Ag+ ions under exposure to water was investigated with the inductively coupled plasma (ICP) method after 21 days.

Result: The nanocomposite showed good antibacterial activity against some gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. The amount of silver release as Ag+ ions was found with the accuracy of ICP analysis.

Conclusion: Furthermore, the low release new nanocomposite was found to have great potential application in antibacterial activity.

Keywords: Silver, polymer, antibactrial, Sol-gel, nanocomposite, silicone polymers.

Graphical Abstract