Bionanotechnology: Silver Nanoparticles Supported on Bovine Bone Powder Used as Bactericide

Bionanotechnology is a relatively new term that implies the use of some biological material or organisms in order to prepare nanosystems or nanoparticles. This work presents the preparation and bactericide application of a sustainable nanometric system (silver nanoparticles) using a waste biological support (bovine bone powder). This system was prepared by the method of metallic salt reduction, using NaBH₄ as reducing agent and AgNO₃ as metallic salt. Two silver contents were analyzed, 1% and 5% weight. The latter was found to be more efficient than the former. Transmission electronic microscopy shows an average size of 10.5 ± 3.3 nm and quasi-sphere morphology. The antimicrobial assay shows that a 5% weight content of silver had a bactericide effect for Escherichia coli at 46.8 min of exposure. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of silver nanoparticles supported on bovine bone powder for Escherichia coli was 7.5 µg/mL. The biocomposite exhibits a specific antibacterial kinetics constant (k) of 0.1128 min^-1 and decimal reduction time (DRT) of 20.39 min for Escherichia coli. Thus, it was concluded that a biocomposite was prepared with a biodegradable, waste, and low-cost support, under mild conditions (room temperature and atmospheric pressure) and using water as solvent.