Abstract
Silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) are known for their efficient bactericidal activity and are widely used in industry. This study aims to produce printable antibacterial devices by drop-on-demand (DoD) inkjet technology, using Ag-NPs as the active part in complex printable fluids. The synthesis of this active part is described using two methods to obtain monodisperse NPs: chemical and microwave irradiation. The synthesized NPs were characterized by UV-VIS, STEM, TEM, DLS and XRD. Two printable fluids were produced based: one with Ag-NPs and a second one, a polymeric nanocomposite, using silver nanoparticles and polyvinyl butyral (Ag-NPs/PVB). Cellulose acetate was used as a flexible substrate. The ecotoxicity analysis of fluids and substrate was performed with Artemia franciscana nauplii. Optimized electric pulse waveforms for drop formation of the functional fluids were obtained for the piezoelectric-based DoD printing. Activity of printed antibacterial devices was evaluated using the Kirby-Bauer method with Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. The results show that the printed device with Ag-NP fluids evidenced a bacterial inhibition. An important advantage in using the DoD process is the possibility of printing, layer by layer or side by side, more than one active principle, allowing an interleaved or simultaneous release of silver NP and other molecules of interest as for example with a second functional fluid to ensure effectiveness of Ag activity.
Highlights
Silver has been used for thousands of years as an antimicrobial and antibacterial agent, up to the antibiotic era which started 90 years ago [1,2]
The first, with silver nanoparticles obtained by chemical process and the second one, with silver nanoparticles produced under microwave irradiation, in a Polyvinyl butyral (PVB) composite
We show that both devices have a bactericidal effect against S. aureus and E. coli
Summary
Silver has been used for thousands of years as an antimicrobial and antibacterial agent, up to the antibiotic era which started 90 years ago [1,2]. The dramatic rise of antibioticresistant bacteria has led to revisiting the antibacterial activity of silver [3,4]. In the last two decades, nanotechnology has allowed to obtain silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) of controlled size and morphology [5]. Silver nanoparticles present a strong broad-spectrum bactericidal activity, and develop little or no bacterial resistance [6,7]. They have the potential to be used alone or in combination with polymers [8].
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