Abstract
The rise of nanotechnology has allowed the development of several inorganic nanoparticles with strong biocidal properties against bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Among them, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) stand out as one of the most promising antimicrobial nanomaterials. Graphene oxide (GO) is another attractive nanomaterial with antimicrobial properties. Although the antimicrobial effect of AgNPs and GO is known, the development of hybrid materials of GO-AgNPs has considerable interest in various applications since they may exhibit synergistic bactericidal properties that exceed the yields of the individual components. The aims of this work were to evaluate the antimicrobial activity and anti-adhesion properties of AgNPs and GO-AgNPs nanocomposites for potential applications in antimicrobial coatings. The antimicrobial activity was tested by agar diffusion method. It was found that activity varied according to the synthesis procedure of the nanomaterials. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus cereus and Kokuria rhizophila were the most susceptible strains. The nanocomposite GO- AgNPs synthetized using the ex-situ method exhibited the highest antibacterial activity against all the assayed strains. Similar results were obtained for bacterial adhesion inhibition tests. Thus, GO-AgNPs nanohybrids could be applied as antibacterial coatings to prevent bacterial biofilm development. Keywords: Silver nanoparticles, graphene oxide, bacteria, biofilms.
Highlights
One of the most effective strategies for the prevention of microbial colonization is the development of functional materials with high antimicrobial properties
There are studies that point out different cellular targets and actions such as: disturbance of the cell membrane, alteration of cellular DNA and proteins, electron transport, nutrient uptake, protein oxidation, or membrane potential; or the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which lead to cell death. [14, 16, 17]
Figure 1a) shows the UV-visible spectrum of the AgNPs synthetized with gelatin, which is comparable with the literature where the spherical AgNPs have a peak of absorbance between the range 420-480 nm depending on the shape [30, 33]
Summary
One of the most effective strategies for the prevention of microbial colonization is the development of functional materials with high antimicrobial properties In this respect, the antimicrobial efficacy of nanoparticles (NPs), including metal and carbon-based NPs, has been widely studied [1,2,3,4]. Among the great variety of antibacterial materials, silver NPs (AgNPs) are marked out as antimicrobial reagents with high capability due to their large surface area and slow release properties [5–8]. They have been used as biocide agents in biomedicine, food, cosmetic and textile applications [9-13] and the responsible mechanism is not yet completely clarified [14,15]. These problems could be avoided by using graphene or graphene oxide as supporting matrix for the AgNPs [19]
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