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Wednesday, 4th October 2006 (6552 views)

Scientists in Germany have discovered a new way to produce antibacterial nanocomposite coatings, using a thin layer of silver and gold nanoparticles, Nanowerk reports.

Silver has been known to be an effective antimicrobial agent for a long time, with the metal's ions believed to combat bacterial enzymes.

Now Dr Vladimir Zaporojtchenko and others at the University of Kiel have demonstrated that combining silver and gold nanoparticles will form a thin film that shows "a greatly enhanced antibacterial efficiency", compared to silver on its own.

The discovery could be applied to medicine and other industries where antimicrobial packaging is useful, such as the food packaging sector.

Dr Zaporojtchenko explained the research: "We developed a new co-deposition process based on sputtering to protect a surface against growth of bacteria by depositing a thin nanocomposite film consisting of silver particles in a fluoropolymer matrix."

He said that adding a thin layer of gold clusters improved the silver's antibacterial activity.

"The much more effective release of silver ions from the coating is attributed to the combination of clusters of silver with clusters of the nobler gold."

Gold nanoparticles have many scientific applications, including use in potential cancer treatments.

 

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