Synthesis of Ag/rGO composite materials with antibacterial activities using facile and rapid microwave-assisted green route

The present paper represents a facile and rapid synthesis of silver-reduced graphene oxide Ag/rGO (Ag/reduced graphite oxides) composites with the help of microwave irradiation. This is a rapid green route requiring power microwave irradiation only 400 W(30 s) and 200 W (60 s) for the uniform Ag nanoparticles with average diameter of similar to 10 nm embedded on rGO sheets. In the microwave irradiation process, rGO samples absorb electromagnetic energy to be heated rapidly due to their intrinsic dielectric and conductive losses. Local hot sheets appear in aqueous solution, facilitating homogeneous nucleation, as well as the grain growth of Ag crystallites throughout the rGO sheets. The obtained Ag/rGO composites exhibited significant antibacterial property towards Gram-negative bacteria (E. coli and P. aeruginosa), Gram-positive bacteria (S. aureus and Enterococcus), and white rot fungus. The minimum bactericidal concentration of the Ag /rGO nanocomposite against E. coli was about 1 mu g/mL. Strong interaction between Ag/rGO composites and bacteria contributed to the totally non-activity of bacteria. [GRAPHICS] .