The Influential Factors on Antibacterial Behaviour of Copper and Silver Nanoparticles

Abstract

The synthesis of metallic nanoparticles (NPs) is of high interest due to their wide range of applications in various fields. Among various types of NPs, copper and silver NPs have received considerable attention because of their unique chemical, physical and antibacterial properties and also their vast applications in various fields including electronics, optics and medicine. The antibacterial properties of these NPs are the main reason for their application in medicine, textile, water treatment and food industry. Previous studies have shown that several factors like size, shape, type of coating, the concentration of a solution containing silver and copper NPs, type of microorganisms, stability of the solution and also environmental conditions like: pH, the presence of ligand (molecule or ion to bond with the central metal and compound-complex) and the bivalent cations are effective factors in antibacterial properties of these NPs. The main purpose of this paper is to review the previous studies in order to determine the mechanism of antibacterial properties of these NPs and their influential factors due to the increasing use of these metal NPs in various fields.