Analyses of surface area, porosity, silver release and antibacterial activity of amine-functionalized, silver-exchanged zeolite NaY

• Main Authors: Hanim, S. A. M., Malek, N. A. N. N., Ibrahim, Z.
• Format: Article
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 2017
• Subjects: TP Chemical technology
• Online Access: http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/75547/; https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85021652575&doi=10.1016%2fj.vacuum.2017.06.038&partnerID=40&md5=44d785379e82fd6bc42aac4bcffa3b2d
• Institution: Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Silver (Ag)-based materials are widely used as effective antibacterial agents for a wide spectrum of bacteria. There is a great challenge to reduce the amount of Ag in Ag-based materials without limiting its antibacterial activity. Herein, the Ag-zeolite NaY (50% from its cation exchange capacity) was functionalized with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane to produce an amine functionalized, Ag-zeolite NaY. The results showed that the functionalization of Ag-zeolite NaY improved its antibacterial activity against a wide spectrum of bacteria (Escherichia coli ATCC11229 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC6538), especially in solutions containing electrolyte (saline solution), although it has a lower surface area, pore volume and amount of Ag released compared to those of zeolite NaY and Ag-zeolite NaY. Thus, the functionalization of Ag-based materials is a promising approach to reducing the amount of Ag required in Ag-based material while improving its antibacterial activity.