Preparation and antibacterial properties of hydrophobic Ag-loaded silica materials

The Ag-loaded hydrophobic silica (Ag/M-SiO2) materials were prepared by sol-gel method with tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) as precursor and methyltriethoxysilane (MTES) as hydrophobic modifier. Contact angles, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectra were used to characterize the as-prepared Ag/M-SiO2 materials. The antibacterial properties of the Ag/M-SiO2 materials were evaluated against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The results indicated that the appropriate calcination temperature of keeping the hydrophobicity of Ag/M-SiO2 materials is 300 similar to 500 degrees C. Ag element exists in Ag/M-SiO2 materials as the elemental form and hydrophobic Si-CH3 groups have been successfully introduced into the Ag/M-SiO2 materials. The qualitative and quantitative antibacterial experiments showed that the antibacterial activity increased with the increase of silver content. When the molar ratio of Ag/TEOS is increased to 0.10, the Ag/M-SiO2 materials showed good antibacterial dissolution and broad-spectrum antibacterial property.