Synthesis, characterization and antimicrobial activity of silver nanoparticles: Agn(NALC)m and Agn(GSHR)m

We developed a one-step synthesis method of N-acetyl-L-cysteine and glutathione reduced protected Ag nanoparticles powder, and present a thorough characterization of the synthesized nanoparticles. The morphology and surface properties of Ag nanoparticles were obtained by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), the optical properties and stability of these Ag nanoparticles in air were studied by UV-vis spectroscopy. In addition, the Ag nanoparticles protected by N-acetyl-L-cysteine and glutathione reduced are used to investigate their antimicrobial efficacy and mechanism against Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-negative Escherichia coli, the antibacterial performance indicate that these Ag nanoparticles have superior stability and enhanced antibacterial activity compared to silver ions, it is believed that these Ag nanoparticles act as a promising antimicrobial material additive for practical applications.