Preparation and Antimicrobial Activity of Antibacterial Silver-Loaded Polyphosphazene Microspheres.

Poly(cyclotriphosphazene-co-4,4'-diaminodiphenyl ether) (PPO) microspheres were prepared via a precipitation polymerization method, using hexachlorocyclotriphosphazene (HCCP) and 4,4'-diaminodiphenyl ether (ODA) as monomers. Silver-loaded PPO (PPOA) microspheres were generated by the in situ loading of silver nanoparticles onto the surface by Ag+ reduction. Our results showed that PPOA microspheres were successfully prepared with a relatively uniform distribution of silver nanoparticles on microsphere surfaces. PPOA microspheres had good thermal stability and excellent antibacterial activity towards Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Furthermore, PPOA microspheres exhibited lower cytotoxicity when compared to citrate-modified silver nanoparticles (c-Ag), and good sustained release properties. Our data indicated that polyphosphazene-based PPOA microspheres are promising antibacterial agents in the biological materials field.

Antimicrobial effects of quaternary phosphonium salt intercalated clay minerals on Escherichia coli and Staphylococci aureus.

The aim of this research was to determine the antimicrobial properties and influence factors of four clay minerals intercalated by quaternary phosphonium salt (tetradecyl tributyl phosphonium bromide, TDTB) on antimicrobial effects. Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococci aureus (S. aureus) were chosen for Minimal Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) tests to evaluate the antimicrobial activities of organ-clay minerals. The properties of organ-clay minerals were analyzed by FTIR, XRD, TEM, Z-Average and Zeta potential, and the releasing amount of TDTB into the broth was measured by ICP. The results showed that montmorillonites-TDTB inhibited the growth of E. coli and S. aureus, and the MICs were 200 ± 20 and 80 ± 15 mg/L, respectively. The amount of TDTB released into the broth was 3.42 ± 0.71%. According to the properties of organ-clay mineral, it was indicated that the antimicrobial activities of organ-clay mineral were the synergic effect of the releasing amount of TDTB, Zeta potential, particle size and distribution. The organ-clay mineral with the larger releasing amount of TDTB, the higher Zeta potential, the same particle size with bacterial size and the narrower size distribution exhibited better antimicrobial activity. The present study demonstrated the properties of organ-clay minerals effected their antimicrobial activities, provided theoretically guidance to promote the antimicrobial activity of clay minerals.

Preparation and properties of antibacterial TiO2@C/Ag core-shell composite.

An environment-friendly hydrothermal method was used to prepare TiO2@C core-shell composite using TiO2 as core and sucrose as carbon source. TiO2@C served as a support for the immobilization of Ag by impregnation in silver nitrate aqueous solution. The chemical structures and morphologies of TiO2@C and TiO2@C/Ag composite were characterized by x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis. The antibacterial properties of the TiO2@C/Ag core-shell composite against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) were examined by the viable cell counting method. The results indicate that silver supported on the surface of TiO2@C shows excellent antibacterial activity.