Hello!
I am working with silver nanoparticles for antimicrobial additivation of polymers. I synthesize them on aluminosilicate sheets as substrate, and I will now replicate my process for ZnO. The intent is to mix both materials and see how does it affect the antimicrobial effects of the additivated polymers - I'm looking for synergies of ZnO and Ag.
The idea is to use the silver to break the bacteria cellular membrane (which ZnO is not very good at doing), and the cheapest ZnO to mess with the bacteria metabolism, so that it dies.
However, I am not sure about the best way to mix both materials to produce the blend. I see two options:
1) Separately synthesize the substrate+Ag and substrate+ZnO, and mix them directly on the polymer matrix;
2) Synthesize both the Ag and ZnO on the same substrate sheets.
Do you guys think one of these two methods will have a sensible better effect on the synergy between materials? Also, do you have any other suggestion about how can I improve my mixture?
Thank you very much!
This may be just a case of trying out both methods and maybe progressing further into making this into a research project in order to try different parameters to see if there are any improvements to the processess.
You might also think about the photo-reduction of the silver onto the surface of the ZnO particles. I have publi sh a procedure using pladium. The same procedure is also tested for ZnO and silver nitrate . For the used procedure an addition washing procedure was necessary to reduce the chlorine ion concentration.
Article Synthesis and testing of ZnO nanoparticles for photo-initiat...
I think that you better synthesize ZnO first and then precipitate Ag NPs on the surface of ZnO. If ZnO with nano size is used, you will have ZnO with wider surface area for the Ag NPs to cover it. By this method the Ag NPs will be on the surface of the composite and expected to have higher antibacterial activity.
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