Continuous synthesis of silver nanoparticles using green chemicals and microreactors and its evaluation as bactericidal agents

SANTIAGO IBARLIN; ESTEBAN GIORIA; ANTONELLA GIORELLO; JOSÉ LUIS HUESO; VICTOR SEBASTIÁN; LAURA B. GUTIERREZ; JESÚS SANTAMARÍA

Barcelona

Congreso; Nanobiotechnology and Nanomedicine (NanoBio&Med 2014); 2014

Silver nanoparticles have been extensively studied in medicine and microbiology mainly because of their bactericidal properties. There are many methods for the synthesis of these nanoparticles but only a few of them are really reproducible and use protocols and reactants that are environmentally friendly. In this work, the synthesis of silver nanoparticles using green reactants is described. Moreover, a continuous production method is proposed based on the use of microreactors. Green chemicals such as glucose and starch are used as reducer and stabilizing agents, respectively. Different synthesis parameters such as reactant ratios and temperatures are thoughtfully evaluated and optimized to maximize the production of silver nanoparticles. The synthetized materials are fully characterized by TEM, UV.Vis and XPS. Likewise, the bactericidal activity of selected nanoparticles has been evaluated against Escherichia coli.