Silver nanoparticles nucleated in NaOH-treated halloysite: a potential antimicrobial material

• Yuri B. Matos,
• Rodrigo S. Romanus,
• Mattheus Torquato,
• Edgar H. de Souza,
• Rodrigo L. Villanova,
• Marlene Soares and
• Emilson R. Viana

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 798–807, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.63

• antimicrobial, and that it is possible to imbue a polymeric matrix with the antimicrobial properties of Ag-NPs. Keywords: antimicrobial activity; DIO coating; halloysite; nanocomposites; silver nanoparticles; Introduction The number of people dying from bacterial infections has been significantly reduced with

• the potential of the Ag-NPs for industrial application by dispersing them into low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and evaluating the chemical compatibility between matrix and additive by testing a dodecanethiol (DIO) coating to improve the dispersion of the Ag-NPs into LDPE. The resulting composites were

• , and the DIO coating was considered successful since qualitative tests showed that Ag/HNT-8/DIO did indeed present hydrophobic behaviour, while Ag/HNT-8 did not. Afterwards, 2 g of Ag/HNT-8 and Ag/HNT-8/DIO were mixed with 650 g of LDPE pellets. Both mixtures were homogenized and moulded into square