Antimicrobial Properties of Titanium Nanoparticles

Abstract

In the present study, nanostructured titania particles were synthesizedusing hydrothermal processing and their photocatalytic antimicrobialactivities were characterized. Sol-gel synthesized TiO2 samples weretreated with a two step hydrothermal treatment. The first stagetreatment was the alkaline treatment with 10 M of NaOH for 48 h at 130degrees C, followed with the second step which applied with distilledwater for 48 h at 200 degrees C. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)images showed that alkaline treatment yields lamellar structureparticles from the sol-gel synthesized anatase. Further treatment ofnanoplates with distilled water results in crystal growth and theformation of nano structured thorn like particles. The photocatalyticantimicrobial activities of samples were determined against Escherichiacoli under solar irradiation for 4 h. It was observed that the samplestreated under alkaline conditions have higher antimicrobial activitythan the untreated samples.