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Silver nanoparticles have been prepared by reducing a silver nitrate precursor and loaded on the surface of bacterial cellulose (BC)in situto form Ag/BC composite membrane. The membrane microstructure was characterized by using scanning electron microscope (SEM). The SEM images showed that the number of the silver nanoparticles with diameters in the range of 50–80 nm increases with higher silver nitrate concentration. X-ray diffraction spectra results indicated that the silver nanoparticles are with face-centered cubic structure. X-ray fluorescence spectrum showed that Ag element was incorporated into the bacterial cellulose. UV-Vis results showed characteristic silver absorption peak at 424 nm. Both antimicrobial activity and biocompatibility of the Ag/BC nanocomposites have been evaluated. The silver nanoparticles exhibited good antimicrobial activities againstE. coliandS. aureus.The antibacterial ratio againstE. coliandS. aureusreached 99.4% and 98.4%, respectively. The Ag/BC composite membrane also showed better biocompatibility. The results suggest that our Ag/BC membrane may find applications for antimicrobial purposes, for example, antibacterial wound dressings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]