Development and Optimization of Silver Nanoparticle Formulation for Fabrication

Multidrug-resistant MDR infections are on the rise in military and civilian populations. Silver nanoparticles AgNPs show promise as an antimicrobial agent however, there remains gaps in the knowledge on the mechanisms in which the AgNPs are fabricated. The studys objective was to evaluate a method for the consistent fabrication of AgNPs with diameters between 10 and 20 nm. Silver nanoparticle suspensions were synthesized by a chemical phase solution reaction route. Different concentrations of silver nitrate AgNO3, sodium borohydride NaBH4, tribasic sodium citrate dihydrate Na3C6H5O7 2H2O, poly vinylpyrrolidone PVP, and hydrogen peroxide H2O2 were combined to determine the most consistent AgNP fabrication method within the range of diameters. The formulation containing 25 mL of 0.2 mM AgNO3 with sodium citrate 1.5 mM, PVP Mw 29k Da, 0.7mM, NaBH4 0.8mM, and H2O2 60L, 30 gave an average AgNP size of 12 4 nm that was reproducible between batches. Ultracentrifugation processing after fabrication reduced the amount of Ag ions, when compared to the unprocessed suspensions. A fabrication method was developed which produced AgNPs with diameters between 10 and 20 nm. From this work, a standardized fabrication methodology was produced.