Ag/H-ZIF-8 nanocomposite as an effective antibacterial agent against pathogenic bacteria

Abstract

Development of antimicrobial nanomaterials is one of the most attractive strategies for eliminating the major threat of pathogenic bacteria to public health. In this work, we developed a simple impregnation-reduction method for the synthesis of Ag-doped hierarchical ZIF-8 (Ag/H-ZIF-8) nanocomposite. The nanocomposite was characterized by several techniques and its antibacterial activity was investigated. The Ag nanoparticles are uniformly dispersed in the porous ZIF-8 with narrow size distribution. Consequently, the resulting Ag/H-ZIF-8 nanocomposite showed significantly enhanced antibacterial activities compared to the single ZIF-8 or Ag nanoparticles. Furthermore, the composite is biocompatible, because no obvious toxicity was observed on Hepatic epithelial cells. This study offers a new approach for the design of hybrid antimicrobial nanomaterials that have great potentials in practical disinfections.