The growing importance of materials that prevent microbial adhesion: antimicrobial effect of medical devices containing silver

Research has clarified the properties required for polymers that resist bacterial colonisation for use in medical devices. The increase in antibiotic-resistant microorganisms has prompted interest in the use of silver as an antimicrobial agent. Silver-based polymers can protect the inner and outer surfaces of devices against the attachment of microorganisms. Thus, this review focuses on the mechanisms of various silver forms as antimicrobial agents against different microorganisms and biofilms as well as the dissociation of silver ions and the resulting reduction in antimicrobial efficacy for medical devices. This work suggests that the characteristics of released silver ions depend on the nature of the silver antimicrobial used and the polymer matrix. In addition, the elementary silver, silver zeolite and silver nanoparticles, used in polymers or as coatings could be used as antimicrobial biomaterials for a variety of promising applications. (C) 2009 Elsevier B. V. and the International Society of Chemotherapy. All rights reserved.

Alloys and oxides on carbon-supported Pt-Sn electrocatalysts for ethanol oxidation

Funda����o de Amparo �� Pesquisa do Estado de S��o Paulo (FAPESP)

Efficient plasmonic coupling between Er3+:(Ag/Au) in tellurite glasses

Funda����o de Amparo �� Pesquisa do Estado de S��o Paulo (FAPESP)

Study of Er3+ fluorescence on tellurite glasses containing Ag nanoparticles

Optical characteristics of tellurite glasses containing silver nanoparticles (NPs) and the influence on the emission spectrum of Er 3+ ions were studied. The transitions 4f ��� 4f from erbium ions, mainly the 4I13/2 ��� 4I15/2 transition that involve upconversion energy process, have a strongly dependence with the chemical structure of the rare earth ion. In the present work, silver nanparticles (NPs) embedded in the host vitreous material, show a significant enhance (or quenching) on the erbium fluorescence due the long-range electromagnetic interaction between the plasmon surface energy of the Ag NPs (Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance -LSPR) and the Er3+ ions.

Nanocomp��sitos baseados em celulose bacteriana para aplica����es ��pticas

Coordena����o de Aperfei��oamento de Pessoal de N��vel Superior (CAPES)

Metallic nanoparticles grown in the core of femtosecond laser micromachined waveguides

Funda����o de Amparo �� Pesquisa do Estado de S��o Paulo (FAPESP)

Effect of Ag nanoparticles on the radiative properties of tellurite glasses doped with Er3+, Yb3+ and Tm3+ ions

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient��fico e Tecnol��gico (CNPq)

Silver colloidal nanoparticle stability: influence on Candida biofilms formed on denture acrylic

Funda����o de Amparo �� Pesquisa do Estado de S��o Paulo (FAPESP)

S��ntese de nanopart��culas de prata suportadas sobre nanotubos de carbono de paredes m��ltiplas para eletrooxida����o de benzeno

Silver nanoparticles (Ag) were deposited on multi-walled carbon nanotube by eletroless. The hybrid Ag/MWCNT was used in the modification of glassy carbon electrode (GC) surface. The electrochemical characterization confirmed the presence of Ag in the nanocomposite has been showed that the synthesis was successful. The GC electrode modified with Ag/MWCNT film was evaluated for electro-oxidation of benzene. The electrochemical behavior presented an improvement on the catalytic surface in relation to non-modified GC electrode. The anodic peak current increased the magnitude in three times when compared with the CG electrode modified only with MWCNT

In vitro reduction of Streptococcus mutans biofilm on silver nanoparticle-modified resin composite

Introduction: Currently, new methods to reduce biofilm formation on biomaterials are very studied, for example the use of silver nanoparticles, which were bactericidal. However, there are few studies investigating the benefits of these particles in dental restorative materials. Objective: This study aimed to compare in vitro the Streptococcus mutans biofilm formation on conventional light-cured composite resin with that on experimental light-cured composite resin, modified with silver nanoparticles. Material and methods: Discs were produced with either conventional resin (control group) and resin modified with different concentrations of silver nanoparticles, 0.1%, 0.3% and 0.6 % wt. (groups 1, 2 and 3, respectively). The samples were incubated in bacterial suspension (S. mutans) enriched with 20% sucrose to promote biofilm growth on the surfaces. Incubation times were 1, 4 and 7 days. After each period, adherent biofilms were disaggregated by ultrasound. Then, the numbers of viable cells recovered from the biofilms were counted through the serial dilution method. A morphological analysis of biofilm was also performed by Scanning Electron Microscopy. The data were subjected to Anova and Tukey���s test (�� = 0.05). Results: The number of viable cells was statistically lower in groups 2 and 3 than in group 1 and control group, after the three incubation periods, without statistical difference between groups 2 and 3. The number of viable cells was statistically lower in group 1 than in control group, after 4 and 7 days of incubation. Conclusion: Resins modified with silver presented reduction of S. mutans biofilm on their surfaces, according to the conditions of this study.

Efficient plasmonic coupling between Er3+:(Ag/Au) in tellurite glasses

We report a systematic study of the localized surface plasmon resonance effects on the photoluminescence of Er3+-doped tellurite glasses containing Silver or Gold nanoparticles. The Silver and Gold nanoparticles are obtained by means of reduction of Ag ions (Ag+ -> Ag-0) or Au ions (Au3+ -> Au-0) during the melting process followed by the formation of nanoparticles by heat treatment of the glasses. Absorption and photoluminescence spectra reveal particular features of the interaction between the metallic nanoparticles and Er3+ ions. The photoluminescence enhancement observed is due to dipole coupling of Silver nanoparticles with the I-4(13/2) -> I-4(15/2) Er3+ transition and Gold nanoparticles with the H-2(11/2)-> I-4(13/2) (805 nm) and S-4(3/2) -> I-4(13/2) (840 nm) Er3+ transitions. Such process is achieved via an efficient coupling yielding an energy transfer from the nanoparticles to the Er3+ ions, which is confirmed from the theoretical spectra calculated through the decay rate. Crown Copyright (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Straightforward Synthesis of Carbon-Supported Ag Nanoparticles and Their Application for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

In this paper we report a simple and environmentally friendly synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNps) and their activities towards the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Ultraviolet spectroscopy (UV-vis) and transmission electron microscopy confirmed the formation of poly(vinyl pyrrolidone)-protected colloidal AgNps through direct reduction of Ag+ by glycerol in alkaline medium at room temperature. For the ORR tests, the AgNps were directly produced onto carbon to yield the Ag/C catalyst. Levich plots revealed the process to occur via 2.7 electrons, suggesting that the carbon support contributes to the ORR. We discuss here possibilities of improving the catalytic properties of the Ag/C for ORR by optimizing the parameters of the synthesis.

Novel SrTi1-xFexO3 nanocubes synthesized by microwave-assisted hydrothermal method

We report herein for the first time a facile synthesis method to obtain SrTi1-xFexO3 nanocubes by means by a microwave-assisted hydrothermal (MAH) method at 140 degrees C. The effect of iron addition on the structural and morphological properties of SrTiO3 was investigated. X-ray diffraction measurements show that all STFO samples present a cubic perovskite structure. X-ray absorption spectroscopy at Fe absorption K-edge measurements revealed that iron ions are in a mixed Fe2+/Fe3+ oxidation state and preferentially occupy the Ti4+-site. UV-visible spectra reveal a reduction in the optical gap (E-gap) of STFO samples as the amount of iron is increased. An analysis of the data obtained by field emission scanning electron microscopy points out that the nanoparticles present a cubic morphology independently of iron content. According to high-resolution transmission electron microscopy results, these nanocubes are formed by a self-assembly process of small primary nanocrystals.

Plasmons as sensors

���Plasmon��� is a synonym for collective oscillations of the conduction electrons in a metal nanoparticle (excited by an incoming light wave), which cause strong optical responses like efficient light scattering. The scattering cross-section with respect to the light wavelength depends not only on material, size and shape of the nanoparticle, but also on the refractive index of the embedding medium. For this reason, plasmonic nanoparticles are interesting candidates for sensing applications. Here, two novel setups for rapid spectral investigations of single nanoparticles and different sensing experiments are presented.rnrnPrecisely, the novel setups are based on an optical microscope operated in darkfield modus. For the fast single particle spectroscopy (fastSPS) setup, the entrance pinhole of a coupled spectrometer is replaced by a liquid crystal device (LCD) acting as spatially addressable electronic shutter. This improvement allows the automatic and continuous investigation of several particles in parallel for the first time. The second novel setup (RotPOL) usesrna rotating wedge-shaped polarizer and encodes the full polarization information of each particle within one image, which reveals the symmetry of the particles and their plasmon modes. Both setups are used to observe nanoparticle growth in situ on a single-particle level to extract quantitative data on nanoparticle growth.rnrnUsing the fastSPS setup, I investigate the membrane coating of gold nanorods in aqueous solution and show unequivocally the subsequent detection of protein binding to the membrane. This binding process leads to a spectral shift of the particles resonance due to the higher refractive index of the protein compared to water. Hence, the nanosized addressable sensor platform allows for local analysis of protein interactions with biological membranes as a function of the lateral composition of phase separated membranes.rnrnThe sensitivity on changes in the environmental refractive index depends on the particles��� aspect ratio. On the basis of simulations and experiments, I could present the existence of an optimal aspect ratio range between 3 and 4 for gold nanorods for sensing applications. A further sensitivity increase can only be reached by chemical modifications of the gold nanorods. This can be achieved by synthesizing an additional porous gold cage around the nanorods, resulting in a plasmon sensitivity raise of up to 50 % for those ���nanorattles��� compared to gold nanorods with the same resonance wavelength. Another possibility isrnto coat the gold nanorods with a thin silver shell. This reduces the single particle���s resonance spectral linewidth about 30 %, which enlarges the resolution of the observable shift. rnrnThis silver coating evokes the interesting effect of reducing the ensemble plasmon linewidth by changing the relation connecting particle shape and plasmon resonance wavelength. This change, I term plasmonic focusing, leads to less variation of resonance wavelengths for the same particle size distribution, which I show experimentally and theoretically.rnrnIn a system of two coupled nanoparticles, the plasmon modes of the transversal and longitudinal axis depend on the refractive index of the environmental solution, but only the latter one is influenced by the interparticle distance. I show that monitoring both modes provides a self-calibrating system, where interparticle distance variations and changes of the environmental refractive index can be determined with high precision.

Occurrence and Origin of Placer Gold in Montana

From time immemorial man has used gold as a medium of exchange, a mea��sure of value, as jewelry and for ornamentation. Placer gold has led dir��ectly or indirectly to the settlement of lands, California and Alaska being the two best known examples. It has led the way to the discovery of other important mineral wealth, the discovery of the copper and silver deposits at Butte, Montana and the discovery of the silver deposits at Cripple Creek, Colorado being two good examples.