TY - JOUR A1 - Matos, Yuri B. A1 - Romanus, Rodrigo S. A1 - Torquato, Mattheus A1 - de Souza, Edgar H. A1 - Villanova, Rodrigo L. A1 - Soares, Marlene A1 - Viana, Emilson R. T1 - Silver nanoparticles nucleated in NaOH-treated halloysite: a potential antimicrobial material JF - Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology PY - 2021/// VL - 12 SP - 798 EP - 807 SN - 2190-4286 DO - 10.3762/bjnano.12.63 PB - Beilstein-Institut JA - Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. UR - https://doi.org/10.3762/bjnano.12.63 KW - antimicrobial activity KW - DIO coating KW - halloysite KW - nanocomposites KW - silver nanoparticles N2 - Despite all recent advances in medical treatments, infectious diseases remain dangerous. This has led to intensive scientific research on materials with antimicrobial properties. Silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) are a well-established solution in this area. The present work studied the nucleation of silver on halloysite substrates modified by chemical treatment with NaOH. The resulting stabilized Ag-NPs were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The nucleation was characterized by thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. The antimicrobial properties of the Ag-NPs were investigated against E. coli and S. aureus. The potential of the Ag-NPs for industrial application was tested by dispersing them into low-density polyethylene. The importance of the chemical affinity between matrix and additive was tested through coating the Ag-NPs with dodecanethiol, a non-polar surfactant. The resulting composites were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and in terms of surface antimicrobial activity. The results demonstrate that the Ag-NPs synthesized in this work are indeed antimicrobial, and that it is possible to imbue a polymeric matrix with the antimicrobial properties of Ag-NPs. ER -