Antimicrobial activity of hemocompatible silver doped hydroxyapatite nanoparticles synthesized by modified sol-gel technique

Silver doped hydroxyapatite (AgxCa100-x (PO4)(6) (OH)(2)) nanorods were synthesized using a modified sol gel method at a low temperature of 100 degrees C. Silver concentration was varied as x = 1, 3 and 5. X-ray diffraction studies showed that the synthesized silver doped hydroxyapatite (Ag-HAp) was fully crystalline with hexagonal structure and an average crystallite size of 25 nm. At all the doping concentrations, the nanoparticles were rod shaped with an average length of 110-180 nm and diameter of 20-25 nm as determined from transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies. These compounds were tested for their antimicrobial activities against E. coli (MTCC 2345) and S. aureus (MTCC 737). Antimicrobial activity was observed for all the three silver doping concentrations with the highest activity for x = 3, in terms of the zone of inhibition and the percentage reduction in the number of colonies. Hemolysis ratios for x = 1 and 3 Ag-HAp samples were below 2 %, indicating that they are highly hemocompatible and can be a promising biomaterial for tissue engineering applications in orthopedics.