Silver nanoparticles are useful for medical applications due to their strong antibacterial activity. The antibacterial activity can be tuned by controlling the size and shape of the prepared silver nanoparticles. In this work, silver nanoparticles with different sizes and shapes were synthesized by solution phase routes, and their interactions with Escherichia coli were studied. Triangular silver nanoprisms were prepared by the reduction of silver nitrate at room temperature in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone, sodium citrate, hydrogen peroxide and sodium borohydride. Spherical silver nanoparticles were also prepared using silver nitrate as metal precursor and sodium citrate as well as sodium borohydride as reducing agents. The morphologies and structures of the nanoparticles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. The results indicated that spherical silver nanoparticles were obtained with different average sizes of 4, 21 and 40 nm, respectively. The edged silver nanoprisms containing mainly {111} lattice planes were obtained in the range size of 25 to 400 nm. The antibacterial study revealed that the edged triangular silver nanoprisms with {111} lattice planes exhibited the strongest antibacterial property, compared with spherical nanoparticles. Our study demonstrated that triangular silver nanoprisms with sharp edges and sharp vertexes also display a good antibacterial activity in comparison to other shaped nanoparticles.

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Dispersion is an important issue for clay leaching in soils. In paddy soils of the Red River Delta (RRD), flooding with fresh water and relatively high leaching rates can accelerate dispersion and the translocation of clay. For the clay fraction of the puddled horizon of a typical paddy soil of the RRD, the effect of various cations and anions as well as humic acid (HA) at different pH values on the surface charge (SC) were quantified and the dispersion properties were determined in test tubes and described by the C50 value. In the <2 µm fraction, dominated by illite, the proportion of 2:1 vs. 1:1 clay minerals is 5:1. The organic‐C content of the clay fraction is 2.2%. Surface charge was found to be highly pH‐dependent. At pH 8 values of –32 and at pH 1 of –8 mmolc kg–1 were obtained. Complete dispersion was observed at pH > 4, where SC is > –18 mmolc kg–1. The flocculation efficiency of Ca strongly depends on the pH. At pH 4, the C50 value is 0.33, 0.66 at pH 5, and 0.90 mmol L–1 at pH 6. At pH 6, close to realistic conditions of paddy soils, the effect of divalent cations on the SC and flocculation decreases in the order: Pb > Cu > Cd > FeII > Zn > Ca > MnII > Mg; FeII was found to have a slightly stronger effect on flocculation than Ca. An increase in concentrations of Ca, MnII, and Mg from 0 to 1 mmol L–1 resulted in a change in SC from –25 to approx. –15 mmolc kg–1. In comparison, the divalent heavy‐metal cations Pb, Cu, Cd, and Zn were found to neutralize the SC more effectively. At a Pb concentration of 1 mmol L–1, the SC is –2 mmolc kg–1. From pH 3 to 5, the dispersion of the clay fraction is facilitated rather by SO$ _4^{2-} $ than by Cl–, which can be explained by the higher affinity of SO$ _4^{2-} $ to the positively charged sites. With an increase of the amount of HA added, the SC continuously shifts to more negative values, and higher concentrations of cations are needed for flocculation. At pH 3, where flocculation is usually observed, the presence of HA at a concentration of 40 mg L–1 resulted in a dispersion of the clay fraction. While high anion concentrations and the presence of HA counteract flocculation by making the SC more negative, FeII and Ca (C50 at pH 6 = 0.8 and 0.9 mmol L–1, respectively) are the main factors for the flocculation of the clay fraction. For FeII and Ca, the most common cations in soil solution, the C50 values were found to be relatively close together at pH 4, 5, and 6, respectively. Depending on the specific mineralogical composition of the clay fraction, SC is a suitable measure for the determination of dispersion properties and for the development of methods to keep clay particles in the soil in the flocculated state.

AB ST R ACT : Residual clays that developed on Permian and Carboniferous glass-rich silicic volcanic rocks (pitchstones, ignimbrites) at the Seilitz and Kemmlitz kaolin deposits, Saxony, Eastern Germany, contain locally abundant lath-shaped illite-rich illite-smectite mixed-layer minerals (I-S). Analyses by XRD and TEM-AES reveal a large illite percentage (>~90%) and R3 ordering in I-S from Seilitz (>~90%) and smaller illite percentage (~70%) and R1 ordering in I-S from Kemmlitz. The clays never suffered a deep burial and there is no geological, petrographic or fluid inclusion evidence for aeolian input or hydrothermal origin of I-S at either deposit. The I-S formed exclusively at the expense of volcanic glass and not from K-feldspar. Residual quartz phenocrysts in the clays still preserve primary glassy silicate melt inclusions and lack secondary aqueous fluid inclusion trails. The dD and d 18 O values of kaolinite and I-S are suggestive of low formation temperatures (<40ºC). Rb-Sr and K-Ar dating of I-S-bearing clay separates yield Lower Cretaceous ages at Seilitz and indicates the presence of excess or inherited 40 Ar in illite-rich I-S. In contrast, Triassic to Jurassic Rb-Sr ages are obtained for I-S from the Kemmlitz kaolin deposit.

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