Ion exchange behaviour of silver-doped apatite micro- and nanoparticles as antibacterial biomaterial

Hydroxyapatite (HAp) micro- and nanoparticles have been widely used as highly promising bioactive materials in different ways because of their bone growth induction. As microbial infection of HAp might be frequently occurred, silver (Ag) can be doped in the HAp lattice to enhance the antimicrobial properties. Herein, Ag-doped HAp was successfully synthesised through an ion exchange reaction. This study describes experiments on the preparation and testing of Ag-loaded HAp as an antibacterial biomaterial. The effects of synthesis conditions such as maturation state and silver ion exchange were investigated on the samples by the Taguchi method. Also, chemical analysis was conducted by atomic absorption spectrophotometers, and the antibacterial activity of the prepared samples against bacterium of Escherichia coli was tested. The effectiveness of the material depends upon the synthesis conditions that were assessed statistically. In addition, the material was examined by scanning electron microscopy and its antibacterial action given a physical basis. Finally, the obtained results indicated that maturation caused an increase in the homogeneity of particles, with a decrease in silver absorption ability and antibacterial activity.