Silver is an ancient antibacterial material. In ancient times, the Ancient Egyptians covered wounds with silver to prevent bacterial infections. More than a thousand years ago, Mongolian herdsmen knew to use silver vessels to keep milk from going bad. Today, there are many examples of silver being used in everyday life as an antibacterial material. In case of skin injury, medical staff will use gauze made of silver silk to cover the skin wound. Using silver containers can extend the shelf life of food and so on. With the rise of nanotechnology, antibacterial materials represented by silver nanoparticles have been widely used.
Silver nanoparticle (SNP) has the advantages of high efficiency, wide spectrum, difficulty in drug resistance and high safety, and is currently the focus of research on antibacterial materials. However, there are still different views on the understanding of SNP antimicrobials, and further research continues.
After the discovery of antibiotics in the 1930s, silver antibacterial materials were ignored due to the widespread use of antibiotics. In recent years, due to the abuse of antibiotics, bacteria have developed a serious problem of drug resistance. Therefore, new low-cost and safe antibacterial materials represented by SNP have aroused people's attention.
Silver, however, is a heavy metal, and there are concerns about whether it is safe to use Silver Nanoparticle as an antibacterial agent. To test this problem, scientists have done relevant experiments.
In 2010, Toxicological Sciences academic journal published studies on the effects of silver nanoparticles on animal cells at different concentrations and particle sizes. The method was to put the silver nanoparticles in direct contact with the cells and observe the effects. It was found that the concentration of 10 g/ mL and the particle size of silver nanoparticles at 10-25nm would interfere with the spermatogonia, which would reduce its proliferation. There are two keys to this, one is the method, one is the concentration. So here's the problem. First, you have to put the cells in direct contact with SNP, in which case it would take 10 g/ml to affect the cells. Did you know that direct contact with cells is almost impossible in most cases? According to a 2009 study conducted by the Taiwan Institute of Labor Health and Safety, even at a very high concentration (300 g/ mL), it is very difficult for silver nanoparticles to enter the human body under normal contact. Even if they enter the human body, they will stay at most in the cuticle and finally be metabolized by the skin. In other words, the conditions for silver nanoparticles to have an effect on humans are extremely difficult to achieve. Therefore, nano silver powder is a relatively safe antibacterial agent.
SNP has many excellent properties as an antibacterial material. First of all, SNP security is high. Compared with silver ions, SNPS exhibit strong antimicrobial activity against microorganisms at very low concentrations (nanomolar or micromole), and are less toxic to mammals and have fewer complications. Second, persistence is good. SNP can be loaded on chitosan and other carriers, continuously release zero-valent silver ions, maintain a relatively stable silver concentration, and achieve the purpose of lasting antibacterial. Third, broad-spectrum antibacterial. SNP can effectively inhibit more than 650 pathogenic bacteria including S. aureus, Staphylococcus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and other fungi, and even kill HIV-1.Fourth, drug resistance is not easy to develop. The bacteria treated by SNP can hardly survive, which can prevent the bacteria from developing drug resistance. Fifth, SNP also has the advantages of small toxic side effects and easy to use.
TRUNNANO (aka. Luoyang Tongrun Nano Technology Co. Ltd.) is a trusted global chemical material supplier & manufacturer with over 12 years’ experience in providing super high quality chemicals and Nano materials. The Silver Nanoparticle produced by our company has high purity, fine particle size and impurity content. Lower, please contact us if necessary.
