This paper will demonstrate the synthesis of highly mono-dispersed silver nanoparticles in aqueous phase and attempt to quantify the magnitude of the antimicrobial effects of said particles. We show that synthesizing the nanoparticles from a precursor of silver hydroxide has advantages over the more commonly used method of synthesizing directly from silver nitrate, particularly the ability to create a mono-dispersed particle with controlled sizes that are considerably larger than those reported from other synthesis techniques. The precursor molecules are created using sodium hydroxide to provide a reaction pathway for silver hydroxide species to form from aqueous silver nitrate. The resulting silver hydroxide is subsequently reduced with sodium acrylate which also acts simultaneously as a capping agent for the aggregating nanoparticles. We characterize the resulting particles through the use of ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), X-Ray diffraction (XRD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM); particles may also be sent to other facilities for more detailed characterization using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The current results from characterization suggest that the synthesized particles are relatively mono-dispersed and preliminary data suggests a controlled size of approximately 20 nm. Desulfovibrio bacterial growth inhibition assays using these particles will be performed with a 1249 modified Baars’ medium for sulfate reducers; this phase of the experiment has yet to be completed but preliminary particle characterization data suggests a morphology that has been shown by other researchers to possess strong antimicrobial properties.

Investigating the antimicrobial properties of silver nanoparticles with respect to Desulfovibrio genus bacteria

249th National Meeting (2015)

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