Synthesis and antibacterial activities of Ag-TiO2/ZIF-8

Abstract

In recent years, massive bacterial infections have led to human illness and death, reminding us of the urgent need to develop effective and long-lasting antimicrobial materials. In this paper, Ag-TiO₂/ZIF-8 with good environmental friendliness and biological antibacterial activity was prepared by solvothermal method. The structure and morphology of the synthesized materials were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, SEM-EDS, TEM, XPS, and BET. To investigate the antibacterial activity of the synthesized samples, <i>Escherichia coli</i> and <i>Bacillus subtilis</i> were used as target bacteria for experimental studies of zone of inhibition, bacterial growth curves, minimum bactericidal concentration and antibacterial durability. The results demonstrated that 20 wt.%Ag-TiO₂/ZIF-8 had the best bacteriostatic effect on <i>E. coli</i> and <i>B. subtilis</i> under dark and UV conditions compared to TiO₂ and ZIF-8. Under the same conditions, the diameter of the inhibition circle of 20 wt% Ag-TiO₂/ZIF-8 is 8.5-11.5 mm larger than that of its constituent material 4 wt% Ag-TiO₂, with more obvious antibacterial effect and better antibacterial performance. It is also proposed that the excellent antibacterial activity of Ag-TiO₂/ZIF-8 is due to the synergistic effect of Ag-TiO₂ and ZIF-8 under UV light. In addition, the prepared material has good stability and durability with effective antimicrobial activity for more than 5 months.