CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Antibacterial materials have attracted great interest in recent years because of their ability to inhibit the growth of microorganisms. Organic antibacterial agents are the most used in the market; nevertheless they present several disadvantages, as their tendency to volatilize or decompose and its toxicity. Metallic ions stabilized in several carriers as zeolite, diatomaceous earth, aluminosilicates, silica-gel, activated carbon, etc. have been used as antimicrobial inorganic materials. Traditionally, copper supported compounds have been used for this purpose; however, the contact of Cu(II) with bacteria in water is difficult, so large amounts of Cu(II) must be used . Silver carried on differents supports is an effective antibacterial material, easy to stabilize inclays minerals and is very effective in the destruction of bacteria as Escherichia Coli. The antibacterial efficiency of natural aluminosilicates, as illites and feldspars, modified with silver was tested in E. Coli cultures, to determine their inhibiting effect on the development and proliferation of the bacteria. The structural characteristics were analyzed using XRD and FTIR. The agar diffusion method was used to evaluate the bacterial activity and the results showed that feldspars had better antibacterial properties than illites. The agar dilution test was used to determine the minimum quantity of the modified aluminosilicates, in this case illites were more effective to inhibit the bacterian activity.