Preparation of Silver/Bacterial Cellulose Composite Membrane and Study on Its Antimicrobial Activity

Silver nanoparticles have been prepared by reducing a silver nitrate precursor and loaded on the surface of bacterial cellulose (BC) in situ to form Ag/BC composite membrane. The membrane microstructure was characterized by using scanning electron microscope (SEM). The SEM images showed that the number of the silver nanoparticles with diameters in the range of 50–80 nm increases with higher silver nitrate concentration. X-ray diffraction spectra results indicated that the silver nanoparticles are with face-centered cubic structure. X-ray fluorescence spectrum showed that Ag element was incorporated into the bacterial cellulose. UV-Vis results showed characteristic silver absorption peak at 424 nm. Both antimicrobial activity and biocompatibility of the Ag/BC nanocomposites have been evaluated. The silver nanoparticles exhibited good antimicrobial activities against E. coli and S. aureus. The antibacterial ratio against E. coli and S. aureus reached 99.4% and 98.4%, respectively. The Ag/BC composite membra...