Antimicrobial effects of silver nanoparticles

Kim, Jun Sung; Kuk, Eunye; Yu, Kyeong Nam; Kim, Jong-Ho; Park, Sung Jin; Lee, Hu Jang; Kim, So Hyun; Park, Young Kyung; Park, Yong Ho; Hwang, Cheol-Yong; Kim, Yong-Kwon; Lee, Yoon-Sik; Jeong, Dae Hong; Cho, Myung-Haing

doi:10.1016/j.nano.2006.12.001

« PreviousNanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine
Volume 3, Issue 1 , Pages 95-101, March 2007

Antimicrobial effects of silver nanoparticles

Jun Sung Kim, DVM, PhD
- Laboratory of Toxicology, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
Eunye Kuk, MS
- Department of Chemistry Education, College of Education, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
Kyeong Nam Yu, MS
- Laboratory of Toxicology, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
Jong-Ho Kim, MS
- Organic Synthesis Laboratory, School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
Sung Jin Park, BS
- Laboratory of Toxicology, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
Hu Jang Lee, DVM, PhD
- Institute of Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Gyeongsang National University, Chinju, Korea
So Hyun Kim, DVM, PhD
- Department of Microbiology, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
Young Kyung Park, DVM, MS
- Department of Microbiology, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
Yong Ho Park, DVM, PhD
- Department of Microbiology, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
Cheol-Yong Hwang, DVM, PhD
- Department of Internal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
Yong-Kwon Kim, PhD
- Laboratory of Micro Sensors and Actuators, School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
Yoon-Sik Lee, PhD
- Organic Synthesis Laboratory, School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
Dae Hong Jeong, PhD
- Department of Chemistry Education, College of Education, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
- Corresponding author. Department of Chemistry Education, College of Education, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
Myung-Haing Cho, DVM, PhD
- Laboratory of Toxicology, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea

Received 28 July 2006; accepted 15 December 2006.

Abstract

The antimicrobial effects of silver (Ag) ion or salts are well known, but the effects of Ag nanoparticles on microorganisms and antimicrobial mechanism have not been revealed clearly. Stable Ag nanoparticles were prepared and their shape and size distribution characterized by particle characterizer and transmission electron microscopic study. The antimicrobial activity of Ag nanoparticles was investigated against yeast, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus. In these tests, Muller Hinton agar plates were used and Ag nanoparticles of various concentrations were supplemented in liquid systems. As results, yeast and E. coli were inhibited at the low concentration of Ag nanoparticles, whereas the growth-inhibitory effects on S. aureus were mild. The free-radical generation effect of Ag nanoparticles on microbial growth inhibition was investigated by electron spin resonance spectroscopy. These results suggest that Ag nanoparticles can be used as effective growth inhibitors in various microorganisms, making them applicable to diverse medical devices and antimicrobial control systems.

Key words: Ag nanoparticle, Antimicrobial effects