“…In the present study, the amount of released AgNPs at varied AgNO 3 loadings was quantitatively measured in the form of ionized Ag + by ICP-MS (Figure 6), which decreased proportionally from treatments A-E. For hydrogels A, B, and C incorporated with AgNPs at 1, 0.5, and 0.25 mg/cm 2 , respectively, the amount of released AgNPs increased sharply by approximately 26-43% between 2 and 24 h. After, the level of the released AgNPs remained relatively unchanged for up to 72 h. Interestingly, for treatments D and E, with a much lower initial AgNO 3 loading, the released AgNPs continued to rise linearly with the incubation time from 2 up to 72 h. Regarding the AgNP levels of 59 ± 5 ppm for hydrogel B and 32 ± 2 ppm for hydrogel C measured by ICP at 24 h, it can be derived from our experiment that at least ~30 and 60 ppm of AgNPs is required for effective antibacterial action against S. aureus and E. coli, respectively. Based on our previous study, the release of AgNPs from the hydrogels was qualitatively confirmed by UV-Vis spectrophotometry [30]. In the present study, the amount of released AgNPs at varied AgNO3 loadings was quantitatively measured in the form of ionized Ag + by ICP-MS (Figure 6), which decreased proportionally from treatments A-E. For hydrogels A, B, and C incorporated with AgNPs at 1, 0.5, and 0.25 mg/cm 2 , respectively, the amount of released AgNPs increased sharply by approximately 26-43% between 2 and 24 h. After, the level of the released AgNPs remained relatively unchanged for up to 72 h. Interestingly, for treatments D and E, with a much lower initial AgNO3 loading, the released AgNPs continued to rise linearly with the incubation time from 2 up to 72 h. Regarding the AgNP levels of 59 ± 5 ppm for hydrogel B and 32 ± 2 ppm for hydrogel C measured by ICP at 24 h, it can be derived from our experiment that at least ~30 and 60 ppm of AgNPs is required for effective antibacterial action against S. aureus and E. coli, respectively.…”