Green Plasma Electrochemical Synthesized Colloidal Silver Nanoparticles and Their Antibacterial Activity

Abstract

Nanosilver solutions of colloidal silver nanoparticles at reasonable price, good quality, and availability are increasingly demanded for the application in agriculture and aquaculture for the prevention and treatment of diseases. In this paper, we have applied a new simple and environmental-friendly fabrication method based on a plasma electrochemical procedure, where silver nanoparticles are directly formed in the plasma environment from silver ions generated by the electrochemical process from the silver anode. The electrode dissolution rate, the formation percentage, and quality of the silver nanoparticles were examined and evaluated using atomic absorption spectroscopy, electrode mass change, transmission electron microscopy, and UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy. The silver nanoparticle formation was found of nearly 100% with the rate of about 3.3 mg per minute. Spherical nanoparticles are found in quite homogenous size distribution around about 9.7 nm in the solution. The solution of the plasma synthesized nanosilvers shows better antibacterial property in comparison to that of AgNO3 of the same molar concentration on both normal and antibiotics resistant E. coli strains.