Preparation of Nanoporous Silica with Agnps at the Core and Curst to Control the Ag+ Ion Release and Enhance the Antibacterial Properties

The present study demonstrates a novel, facile and one-pot approach to develop silica nanoparticle with silver at its core and crust. A modified stöbers method was used to make silica-AgNPs@ (Core&Crust). A significant reduction in the size of silica nanoparticle was seen, clearly 2-5 nm AgNPs was uniformly distributed on the surface while10-20 nm AgNPs were seen in the center. A typical mesoporous silica from stöbers method was transformed to nanoporous silica by this modified stöbers method. Nanoporous silica was advantageous for slow and consistent silver release which was confirmed by Ag+ ion release test. Antibacterial activities of the samples were carried out to investigate the disinfection performance of the samples on the Gram negative bacteria (Escherichia coli) using disk diffusion and LB-agar method. Silica-AgNPs@ (Core&Crust) showed prolonged silver release for more than 20 days and improved antibacterial properties even after 5 days of incubation.