Ultraviolet–Ozone-Activation-Driven Ag Nanoparticles Grown on Plastic Substrates for Antibacterial Applications

Abstract

A simple, cheap, and environment-friendly method is developed to fabricate antibacterial plastic films or fibers. We report a robust method to decorate silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on plastics or fibers, which is achieved easily by dipping ultraviolet–ozone (UVO)-treated plastic films or fibers into a silver nitrate solution under mild conditions. Apart from silver nitrate, neither a stabilizer nor a reducing agent is required, and no post-treatment is required to reduce the Ag+ ions into AgNPs. The only process required is the pre-treatment of the plastic substrates using UVO under an ambient condition for their surface activation. Most importantly, the AgNP-coated plastics show a robust adhesion ability and high bactericidal activity, more than 99% toward both Gram-negative Escherichia coli and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus. Because the AgNP-decoration on plastic substrates by UVO-treatment is environmentally benign, highly reproducible, economically beneficial, and universally acceptable for many kinds of plastic substrates, it could be widely utilized for producing AgNP-coated plastics suitable for biological and environmental applications in both academics and industries.

Smart Nanostructured Materials for SARS-CoV-2 and Variants Prevention, Biosensing and Vaccination

“…Functionalizing nanofibers with active nanostructures will provide additional antibacterial and antiviral properties in addition to passive filtration [ 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 ]. To this end, Ag nanoparticles have been long recognized for their excellent antibacterial performances [ 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 ]. A typical scheme for classic air filter with antibacterial and antiviral properties is shown in Figure 2 a [ 72 ].…”

High-Performance Organic Field-Effect Transistors of Liquid Crystalline Organic Semiconductor by Laser Mapping Annealing

“…The organic semiconductor material 2-dodecyl-7-phenyl [1]benzothieno [3,2-b][1]benzothiophene (Ph-BTBT-12) has an extended conjugated structure with long alkyl chains, and proper alkylation can lead to a more compact arrangement of the conjugated skeleton, thus improving the mobility of the carriers [14,15]. Moreover, the characteristics of the active material itself and the subsequent treatments in the device preparation also play key roles in enhancing the device's capabilities, including interface modification, annealing, and so on [16][17][18]. A self-assembled monolayer (SAM) is commonly applied in surface modification to modify the affinity energy [3,[19][20][21].…”