[Preparation and characterization of activated carbon-silver composite with antibacterial behavior via vacuum...

Activated carbon-silver composite (Ag/AC) for antibacterial performance by controlling silver release was prepared by silver acetate vacuum impregnation method. The antibacterial activity towards E. coil and resistance of water erosion was investigated through distilled water. Surface area and porosity analyzer, Scanning electron spectroscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to characterize the surface morphology and pore properties. The results show that Ag0 was deposited on AC symmetrically. The content of silver supported and particle size were increased by the increasing of the concentration of CH3 COOAg, while specific surface area, total pore volume and average pore size were decreased. Ag/AC prepared with silver content of 0.97% which killed 10(7) CFU/mL concentration of E. coil in 120 min exhibited the similar antibacterial activity for E. coil with that prepared by traditional impregnation method. However, the silver loss of the Ag/AC prepared with silver content of 0.97% was 37.6%, showing much higher resistance to water erosion. High antibacterial activity and control silver release can be simultaneously realized by the silver acetate vacuum impregnation method.