title: Highly bactericidal Ag nanoparticle films obtained by cluster beam deposition.
abstract: The recent emergence of bacterial pathogens resistant to most or all available antibiotics is among the major global public health problems. As indirect transmission through contaminated surfaces is a main route of dissemination for most of such pathogens, the implementation of effective antimicrobial surfaces has been advocated as a promising approach for their containment, especially in the hospital settings. However, traditional wet synthesis methods of nanoparticle-based antimicrobial materials leave a number of key points open for metal surfaces: such as adhesion to the surface and nanoparticle coalescence. Here we demonstrate an alternative route, i.e. supersonic cluster beam deposition, to obtain antimicrobial Ag nanoparticle films deposited directly on surfaces. The synthesized films are simple to produce with controlled density and thickness, are stable over time, and are shown to be highly bactericidal against major Gram positive and Gram negative bacterial pathogens, including extensively drug-resistant strains.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  The use of silver nanoparticle in health care is getting more widespread. The authors here describe the technique of cluster beam deposition for spraying silver on surfaces used in health care sectors. This may open a new avenue for future anti-bacterial coatings.
authors: Interdisciplinary Laboratories for Advanced Material Physics (i-LAMP) & Dipartimento di Matematica e Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
authors: Emanuele
authors: E
authors: Cavaliere
authors: Interdisciplinary Laboratories for Advanced Material Physics (i-LAMP) & Dipartimento di Matematica e Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
authors: Sebastiano
authors: S
authors: De Cesari
authors: Dipartimento di Biotecnologie Mediche, Università degli Studi di Siena, Policlinico Santa Maria alle Scotte, Siena, Italy.
authors: Giulia
authors: G
authors: Landini
authors: Dipartimento di Biotecnologie Mediche, Università degli Studi di Siena, Policlinico Santa Maria alle Scotte, Siena, Italy.
authors: Eleonora
authors: E
authors: Riccobono
authors: Dipartimento di Biotecnologie Mediche, Università degli Studi di Siena, Policlinico Santa Maria alle Scotte, Siena, Italy.
authors: Lucia
authors: L
authors: Pallecchi
authors: Dipartimento di Biotecnologie Mediche, Università degli Studi di Siena, Policlinico Santa Maria alle Scotte, Siena, Italy; Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale e Clinica, Università di Firenze & SOD Microbiologia e Virologia, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Careggi, Firenze, Italy.
authors: Gian Maria
authors: GM
authors: Rossolini
authors: Interdisciplinary Laboratories for Advanced Material Physics (i-LAMP) & Dipartimento di Matematica e Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Brescia, Brescia, Italy. Electronic address: luca.gavioli@unicatt.it.
authors: Luca
authors: L
authors: Gavioli
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D012834:Silver
keywords: Ag nanoparticle-based antimicrobial films; Atomic force microscopy; Bactericidal activity; Electron spectroscopies; Extensively drug-resistant bacteria; Supersonic cluster beam deposition