Creating extended antimicrobial property in paper by means of Ag and nanohybrids of montmorillonite (MMT)

Silver-clay nanohybrids based on silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) with montmorillonit (MMT) and milled MMT, shortly AgMMT and AgMMT , have been prepared to improve the performance of antibacterial properties of paper. The results obtained by dynamic light scattering indicated the presence of silver particles in the nanometer range, which have a great accumulation tendency. The results of AAS and ICP-AES tests showed that nanosilver amount in the AgMMT was doubled compared to the AgMMT , but according to the EDX results, the amount of nanosilver in paper treated with the former was less than in the latter. FE-SEM images showed that the dimensions of deposited nanosilver on the surface of clay were smaller than in case of AgNPs alone. Papers treated with nanohybrids had better antibacterial properties compared to that prepared by naked nanosilver. It was also found that the antibacterial property of papers treated with AgMMT were more stable during three-stage tests compared to those with AgMMT . Nanohybrids with Ag conc. more than 15 ppm, especially hybrids with Ag conc. of 50 ppm, result in a significant improvement in antibacterial properties of paper. It can be concluded that silver-clay nanohybrid with a 25-ppm concentration of nanosilver could be the best and most economic antibacterial component.