The Intriguing Nano Sized World Of Silver Nanoparticles In Nanoscience
Our eyes are responsible for sight in our lives, but what we see is only a fraction of the world our eyes can see, smaller than what our eyes can perceive, exists a world so small they can only be measured in nano scales. Understanding this is now what we know as nanoscience and nanotechnology is our efforts in understanding it. One such development in the field of nanotechnology is the development and research of nanoparticles.
Nanoparticles and silver nanoparticles
With a singular structural dimension measuring less than 100nm, nanoparticles in size are as small as ‘subcellular structures’, ‘cell organelles’ or ‘biological macromolecules’, due to its small it is easily incorporated into biological systems.
Possessing unique properties silver nanoparticles aid against fighting pathogenic microbial activity on living organisms exposed to viruses as well as fungi and bacteria. Silver possesses a unique attribute in slowing the effect of pathogenic microbial activity. Silver nanoparticles compared to silver in its solid form have a larger surface area resulting in better contact and more biocidal activity with microorganisms.
Major fields of application
For its microbial qualities, silver nanoparticles have been used widely in the development of medical science and are widely use in dentistry
In the field of medical science and the development of antibiotics, it has been found to be very effective when combined with certain types of antibiotics like ‘Penicillin-G, erythromycin, clindamycin’ the particles are particularly effective againts ‘graham positive and negative bacteria’ like ‘Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas, Escherichia, Salmonella, Enterococcus, Bacillus, Staphylococcus Listeria and Streptococcus and studies have shown it to be very effective against viruses and fungi like influenza and Aspergillus.
Other usage of the nanoparticle is found in cosmetics, antiseptics and textiles where it is incorporated into the fabric material etc.
