Silver mineralization on self-assembled peptide nanofibers for long term antimicrobial effect

In this work, we employ Fmoc-peptide-based self-assembled nanofibers which are equipped with numerous carboxylic acid and thiol groups on their exterior as scaffolds for the mineralization of silver nanoparticles (Ag-PepNFs). The space- and size-constraint effect along with physical isolation provided by the nano-templates of peptide nanofibers facilitates the production of Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) with high monodispersity and stability. These Ag-PepNFs nanocomposites can maintain stability for up to 3 months of storage at room temperature in air. In comparison to the traditional Ag-containing materials, Ag-PepNFs nanocomposites offer obvious advantages of ease of fabrication, good biocompatibility, inexpensive production, functional flexibility. More importantly, the tubular nanocomposite are shown to possess a highly effective and long-term antibacterial activity against both Gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus subtilis) and Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli DH5 alpha).