Study of the Morphology and Antibacterial Properties of Nano Silver Films Prepared on Regenerated Cellulose Substrate

Nano size silver films were deposited on the surface of regenerated cellulose films by magnetron sputtering, to impart antibacterial functionality to the cellulose films. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) images revealed that the silver films were composed of nano size compact grains and the surface shape of the grains changed with changing sputtering power. As the power increased, the size of the nano silver grains increased and the number of grains decreased. Surface elemental analysis by energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) showed a small amount of elemental silver on the surface. The antibacterial activity of the films was assessed by the shake flask test which measured the number of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. The percentage reduction of the bacteria reached >99.9%.