Shape-dependent antibacterial activity of silver nanoparticles on Escherichia coil and Enterococcus faecium bacterium

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been shown to exhibit strong antibacterial activity against both Grampositive bacteria and Gram-negative bacteria including antibiotic resistant strains. This study aims to compare the bactericidal effect of different shaped AgNPs (spherical and truncated octahedral) against Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecium. The antimicrobial activity of a range of concentrations (50, 100, 1000 mu g/ml) was determined over 24h using both optical density and viable counts. Truncated octahedral AgNPs (AgNOct) were found to be more active when compared with spherical AgNPs (AgNS). The difference in shape resulted in differences in efficacy which may be due to the higher surface area of AgNOct compared to AgNS, and differences in active facets and surface energies, with AgNPs having a bacteriostatic effect and AgNOct being bactericidal after 4 h. The results suggest that AgNPs can be used as effective growth inhibitors in different microorganisms, rendering them applicable to various medical devices and antimicrobial control systems. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.