Metal Nano Powder

Nanosilver Particles based compounds have been used as nontoxic, inorganic, and antibacterial agents owing to their biological properties in many applications such as wood preservatives or for water purification in hospitals. Nanomaterials demonstrate unique and significantly modified physical and chemical properties, compared to their macroscaled counterparts, which make them of particular interest. For this reason, silver nanoparticles have become of major interest for their antibacterial properties and are already integrated into applications such as wound treatment, sterilization, food sanitation, antibacterial textiles, and more recently drug delivery. In fact, silver nanoparticles exhibit a broad spectrum of antibactericidal and antifungicidal activities making them extremely popular in a diverse range of consumer products, including plastics, soaps, pastes, food, and textiles. These properties make them valuable in applications such as inks, microelectronics, medical imaging, and waste management.

A Nanosilver particles consists of many antimicrobial silver atoms or ions clustered together to form a particle roughly 1-100 nm in size. Due to their small size, these nanoparticles are able to invade bacteria and other microorganisms and kill them, as their DNA is altered rendering them incapable of reproducing. Nano silver has shown higher lethality for microorganisms and lower for mammalian cells (individuals). Silver nanoparticles (or nanosilver) are now widely impregnated into a wide range of consumer products, including textiles such as socks, sportswear, underwear and bedding, vacuums, washing machines, toys, sunscreens, and a host of others.

Nanosilver particles (Ag-NPs) with unique properties of high antimicrobial activity have attracted much interest from scientists and technologists to develop nanosilver - based disinfectant products. This article aims to review the synthesis routes and antimicrobial effects of Ag-NPs against various pathogens including bacteria, fungi and virus.

Nanosilver Particles: Toxicity of silver nanoparticles is mostly determined in vitro with particles ranging from approximately 1-100 nm. The in vitro and in vivo toxicity studies revealed that silver nanoparticles have the potential ability to cause chromosomal aberrations and DNA damage, to enter cells and cause cellular damage, and are capable of inducing proliferation arrest in cell lines of zebra fish. Silver nanoparticles can bind to different tissues (bind to proteins and enzymes in mammalian cells) and cause toxic effects, such as adhesive interactions with cellular membrane and production of highly reactive and toxic radicals like reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can cause inflammation and show intensive toxic effects on mitochondrial function.