Silver Nanoparticles Obtained by Semicontinuous Chemical Reduction Using Carboxymethyl Cellulose as a Stabilizing Agent and Its Antibacterial Capacity

Abstract

Preparation of silver nanoparticles was carried out by semicontinuous reduction of Ag+ ions at low temperatures. Silver nitrate was used as the Ag0 precursor, the carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) as stabilizer and primary reducing agent, and sodium borohydride as reducing agent. Weight ratios of 1 : 1 and 1 : 2 of AgNO3 : CMC were used for carrying out the reactions. Silver nanoparticles were characterized by UV-VIS spectroscopy, transmission electronic microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The formation of silver nanoparticles was confirmed by XRD spectroscopy and by the presence of an absorption peak around 400 nm in the UV-visible spectrum. Unimodal size distributions of spheroidal nanoparticles were observed by TEM. Greater productivities than those reported by other authors were obtained with the advantage of using a lower temperature and minor reaction times. By using a higher CMC/AgNO3 weight ratio or a higher concentration of AgNO3, AgNPs with larger average size were produced. Antibacterial activity of AgNPs against S. aureus and E. coli was determined by the agar disk diffusion method. The higher the AgNPs concentration, the larger the inhibition zone. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of AgNPs against S. aureus and E. coli was 5 μg/disk.