Microwave synthesis Ag/reduced graphene oxide composites and enhanced antibacterial performance.

A series of water-soluble silver/reduced graphene oxide (Ag/rGO) composites were prepared with rGO as a carrier. The obtained composites were characterised by energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS), TEM, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and thermogravimetric analyses (TGA). TEM images demonstrated that well monodispersed silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) precipitate on the rGO sheets. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed that graphene oxide (GO) had been reduced to rGO in our hybrid. The antibacterial properties of Ag/rGO composites were investigated by bacteriostatic curve, and the experiments showed that the antibacterial properties of Ag/rGO antimicrobial materials were enhanced, which exhibited a superior antibacterial activity towards Escherichia coli (E. coli) because of the synergistic effect of rGO and Ag NPs. These results indicated that Ag/rGO composites attached to hierarchal hybrid supports can lead to compact and powerful antibacterial devices for chemical-free disinfection devices of the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]