Halloysite nanotubes with immobilized silver nanoparticles for anti-bacterial application

Halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) with immobilized silver (Ag) nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared by methods of wet chemistry and were characterized by using the transmission electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, optical spectroscopy and experiments with E. coil bacteria in-vitro. It was found that Ag NPs with almost perfect crystalline structure and sizes from 9 nm were mainly attached over the external surface of HNTs. The optical absorption measurement revealed a broad plasmonic resonance in the region of 400-600 nm for HNTs with Ag NPs. The later samples exhibit bactericidal effect, which is more pronounced under illumination. A role of the plasmonic excitation of Ag NPs for their bioactive properties is discussed. The obtained results show that Ag NPs-decorated HNTs are promising agents for the antibacterial treatment. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.