title: Halloysite Nanotubes Supported Ag and ZnO Nanoparticles with Synergistically Enhanced Antibacterial Activity.
abstract: Novel antimicrobial nanocomposite incorporating halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) and silver (Ag) into zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles is prepared by integrating HNTs and decorating Ag nanoparticles. ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) and Ag nanoparticles (Ag NPs) with a size of about 100 and 8 nm, respectively, are dispersively anchored onto HNTs. The synergistic effects of ZnO NPs, Ag NPs, and HNTs led to the superior antibacterial activity of the Ag-ZnO/HNTs antibacterial nanocomposites. HNTs facilitated the dispersion and stability of ZnO NPs and brought them in close contact with bacteria, while Ag NPs could promote the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and enhanced the antibacterial activity of ZnO NPs. The close contact with cell membrane enabled the nanoparticles to produce the increased concentration of reactive oxygen species and the metal ions to permeate into the cytoplasm, thus induced quick death of bacteria, indicating that Ag-ZnO/HNTs antibacterial nanocomposite is a promising candidate in the antibacterial fields.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Mineral Materials, School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China.|Hunan Key Laboratory of Mineral Materials and Application, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China.
authors.forename: Zhan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shu
authors.affiliation: Centre for Mineral Materials, School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China.|Hunan Key Laboratory of Mineral Materials and Application, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, WC1E 6DD, UK.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Centre for Mineral Materials, School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China. hmyang@csu.edu.cn.|Hunan Key Laboratory of Mineral Materials and Application, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China. hmyang@csu.edu.cn.|State Key Laboratory of Powder Metallurgy, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China. hmyang@csu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Huaming
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
keywords: Ag nanoparticles; Antibacterial activity; Halloysite nanotubes; Nanocomposites; ZnO nanoparticles