The effects of concentration, contact time, and pH value on antibacterial activity of silver nanoparticles decorated reduced graphene oxide

Nowaday, antibiotic resistance is considered one of the controversial threats to human health. This issue leads to the urgent demand for materials with higher antibacterial efficiency which enhances the antibacterial. Therefore, in this study, the silver/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite (Ag/rGO) was synthesized and applied for antibacterial activity. Ag/rGO was prepared from graphene oxide and AgNO3 by in situ method using L-ascorbic acid as green and eco-friendly reducing agent. The characterization results showed that silver nanoparticles (11.96 ± 5 nm) were uniformly decorated on reduced graphene oxide sheets. The antibacterial activity test results revealed the increment in antibacterial activity when the Ag/rGO concentration increased. Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus were killed in 240 min at 50 µg/mL and 720 min at 400 µg/mL, respectively. The antibacterial activity of Ag/rGO increased as pH decreased. These results indicated that Ag/rGO had potential applications in biology as an antibacterial material.