Facile synthesis of monodispersed silver nanoparticles on graphene oxide sheets with enhanced antibacterial activity

Abstract

Graphene oxide–Ag nanoparticle (GO–Ag) composites were synthesized through a facile two-phase (toluene–water) process. Transmission Electron Microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the Ag nanoparticles anchored on GO sheets were spherical in shape and highly monodispersed with uniform size of 6 nm. The antibacterial activity of GO–Ag composites was investigated against gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli) and showed a remarkably enhanced antibacterial activity compared with the original Ag nanoparticles, suggesting that the as-prepared nanocomposites may be used as effective antibacterial materials.