Investigation on the antibacterial micro-porous titanium with silver nano-particles

Micro-porous titanium is coated with silver nanoparticles by using a simple chemical reduction method that exhibits excellent antibacterial ability. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) shows that the silver nanoparticles with average sizes of about 100 nm are formed homogeneously on the micro-porous titanium surface. After the micro-porous Ti coated with silver nano particles is treated by heating, the average size of the silver nano particles is slightly increased, but the nano particles are more uniformly dispersed on the surface of the micro-porous titanium. X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicates that those nanoparticles are metallic silver produced on the micro-porous titanium surface. The samples of micro-porous titanium coated with silver nanoparticles inhibit the growth of Escherichia coli. Our results show that the electrical double layer of the samples play an important role in the antibiosis and this study opens a new window for antibacterial mechanism which may be suitable for the other antibacterial metallic materials.