Mansor Bin  Ahmad, Kamyar  Shameli, Majid  Darroudi, Wan Md Zin  Wan Yunus, Nor Azowa  Ibrahim, Azizah  Abdul Hamid, Mohsen  Zargar, 
    Synthesis and Antibacterial Activity of Silver/Montmorillonite Nanocomposites,
    Research Journal of Biological Sciences,
    Volume 4,Issue 9,
    2009,
    Pages 1032-1036,
    ISSN 1815-8846,
    rjbsci.2009.1032.1036,
    (https://makhillpublications.co/view-article.php?doi=rjbsci.2009.1032.1036)
    Abstract: Silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) were successfully synthesized into the interlayer space of Montmorillonite (MMT) by chemical reduction method. AgNO<SUB>3</SUB> and NaBH<SUB>4 </SUB>were used as a silver precursor and reducing agent, respectively. The properties of Ag/MMT nanocomposites were studied as a function of the AgNO<SUB>3</SUB> concentration. The UV-vis spectra of synthesized Ag-NPs showed that the intensity of the maximum wavelength of the plasmon peaks increased with increasing AgNO<SUB>3</SUB> concentration. The crystalline structure of the Ag-NPs and basal spacing of MMT and Ag/MMT were also studied by Powder X-Ray Diffraction (PXRD). The antibacterial activity of Ag-NPs was investigated against gram-negative bacteria (<I>Escherichia coli</I>, <I>Escherichia coli</I> O157:H7 and <I>K. pneumonia</I>) and gram-positive bacterium (<I>Staphylococcus aureus</I>) by disk diffusion method using Muller-Hinton Agar (MHA) at different sizes of Ag-NPs. The smaller Ag-NPs were found to have significantly higher antibacterial activity. These results showed that Ag-NPs can be used as effective growth inhibitors in different biological systems, making them applicable to medical applications such as in surgical devices.
    Keywords: Silver nanoparticles;montmorillonite;nanocomposite;antibacterial activity;powder x-ray diffraction;muller-hinton agar