Editorial Silver Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Properties, and … · 2019. 7. 31. · be obtained by changing the consistency of the silver ink, keeping in mind an ultimate automated

EditorialSilver Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Properties, and Applications

Protima Rauwel,1,2 Erwan Rauwel,3 Stanislav Ferdov,4 and Mangala P. Singh5,6

1Department of Physics, University of Oslo, 24 Sem Saelandsvei, 316 Oslo, Norway2Institute of Physics, University of Tartu, Ravila 14c, 51014 Tartu, Estonia3Tartu College, Tallinn University of Technology, Puiestee 78, 51008 Tartu, Estonia4Department of Physics, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimaraes, Portugal5Department of Physics, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON, Canada L2S 3A16CWIT Capital Inc., 8 Baker Drive, St. Catharines, ON, Canada L2N 2V8

Correspondence should be addressed to Protima Rauwel; [email protected]

Received 14 December 2014; Accepted 14 December 2014

Copyright © 2015 Protima Rauwel et al.This is an open access article distributed under the Creative CommonsAttribution License,which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Silver nanoparticles have been of interest since the IV centuryAD owing to their dichroic character when integrated intoglass. For over centuries, silver based compounds have beenused as nontoxic, inorganic, and antibacterial agents owingto their biocidal properties in many applications such aswood preservatives or for water purification in hospitals.Nanomaterials demonstrate unique and significantly mod-ified physical and chemical properties, compared to theirmacroscaled counterparts, which make them of particularinterest. For this reason, silver nanoparticles have becomeof major interest for their antibacterial properties and arealready integrated into applications such as wound treatment,sterilization, food sanitation, antibacterial textiles, and morerecently drug delivery. In fact, silver nanoparticles exhibita broad spectrum of antibactericidal and antifungicidalactivities making them extremely popular in a diverse rangeof consumer products, including plastics, soaps, pastes, food,and textiles, thus increasing their market value. In thepresent context, they have attracted increasing interest dueto their unique physical, chemical, and biological propertiescompared to their macroscaled counterparts. Silver nanopar-ticles are also studied by material scientists who investigatetheir integration into other materials in order to obtainenhanced properties, as, for example, in solar cells wheresilver nanoparticles are used as plasmonic light traps. Theseproperties make them valuable in applications such as inks,microelectronics, medical imaging, and waste management.Traditionally, metal nanoparticles are produced by physicalmethods like ion sputtering or pulsed laser ablation and

chemical methods like solvothermal synthesis and sol-gelmethods. More recently, however, environmentally friendlysynthesis methods have been developed, called “green syn-theses.” Depending on the chosen method, silver nanopar-ticles with different morphologies, sizes, and shapes can beobtained. Nevertheless, one of the critical criteria remains thesize distribution that should be as narrow as possible to targetspecific applications.

The following special issue focuses on works that empha-size silver nanoparticles in today’s technologically advancingsociety. The contribution from K.-S. Chou and C.-H. Lee“Fabrication of Silver Interdigitated Electrode by a StampMethod” proposes the fabrication of interdigitated electrodesvia a stamp containing the imprint of the required elec-trode and employing silver ink. The stamping force requiredappears to be crucial in the reproducible printability ofthese electrodes. Further improvements in the printing canbe obtained by changing the consistency of the silver ink,keeping in mind an ultimate automated method for suchelectrode fabrication. The method is attractive due to itscost-effectiveness and possible applications as sensors. Ona different note, K.-H. Tseng et al. in their study entitled“A Study of Antibioactivity of Nanosilver Colloid and SilverIon Solution” prepare the mood for a biomedical applicationof silver nanoparticles. Synthesis of the nanoparticles bynontoxic methods, such as electrical spark discharge withoutsurfactants, is the appeal of the paper. Antibioactivity effec-tiveness of these ionic nanoparticles on yeast and bacteria iscompared. Clearly, the study is of fundamental importance in

Hindawi Publishing CorporationAdvances in Materials Science and EngineeringVolume 2015, Article ID 624394, 2 pageshttp://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/624394

2 Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

understanding the effect of silver ions on various bioactivities.In the same spirit, Y. Jeong et al. in “Assessment of Size-Dependent Antimicrobial and Cytotoxic Properties of SilverNanoparticles” have studied not only antimicrobial activi-ties of these silver nanoparticles but also their cytotoxicity.The size controlled synthesis of these nanoparticles furtherhelped in assessing their size-dependent properties. Theirwork brings in new information on such materials as theirexperiments suggest that even though smaller nanoparticlestend to be more efficient antimicrobial agents, they also tendto present higher cytotoxicity for humans. In their work, theyhave studied antibacterial effect of Ag on Methylobacteriumspp. and cytotoxicity on human peripheral blood mononu-clear cells. They suggest that not only silver ions but alsothe nanosize of silver could be a factor in determining theantimicrobial activity.

The special issue also proposes review articles. The paper“Preparation of Silver Nanoparticles andTheir Industrial andBiomedical Applications: A Comprehensive Review” by A.Haider I.-K. Kang, and as suggested by the title, is one suchreview article. The paper discusses the role of silver nanopar-ticles in industrial and biomedical applications. It describesvarious synthesis routes, including chemical and biologicalmethods. Size of the nanoparticles and its effect on theircytotoxicity have been given a closer look along with theirapplications in textiles and plastic coatings, among others.Environmental consequences of releasing them into natureare also considered here. Furthermore, due to their antimi-crobial properties, silver nanoparticles have also been aningredient in wound dressings as presented by P. Uttayarat etal. in their research paper, “Radiolytic Synthesis of ColloidalSilver Nanoparticles for Antibacterial Wound Dressings.” Inthis paper, the nanoparticles were synthesized by radiolysiswhere the precipitation of the silver nanoparticles dependedon the gamma radiation dose. For a certain dose, thesilver nanoparticleswere efficient in inhibiting Staphylococcusaureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. They therefore prove tobe good candidates as antiseptic agents in wound healing.Finally, a contribution from the guest editors entitled “AReview on the Green Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles andTheir Morphologies Studied via TEM” is part of this specialissue. Since green synthesis is gaining importance and healthand safety risks of other synthesis methods are continuouslybeing assessed, the present review article by P. Rauwel et al.provides an overview of different green synthesis methodsof silver nanoparticles using bacteria, fungi, yeast, and plantextracts. Furthermore, a review on the various particle sizesas a function of different plant extracts has been explored.In fact, even if organisms from bacteria to eukaryotes areused to produce silver nanoparticles, plant extracts possessthe advantage of cost-effectiveness and abundance.

In conclusion, all the articles in the present issue presentoriginal research efforts in the field of the synthesis ofsilver nanoparticles, the study of their properties, and theirintegration in applications. This issue presents new researchresults developed in the field of interdigitated electrodes andtheir roles as antibacterial and antifungal agents. This issuealso demonstrates the broad field of applications of silvernanoparticles via the two review articles that present the

recent advances in industrial and biomedical applications andthe development of new environmentally friendly methodsfor the synthesis of silver nanoparticles. Finally, we hope thatthis issue is useful and a reference for scientists, researchers,and teachers in the field of materials science and nanotech-nology.

Protima RauwelErwan Rauwel

Stanislav FerdovMangala P. Singh

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Editorial Silver Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Properties, and … · 2019. 7. 31. · be obtained by changing the consistency of the silver ink, keeping in mind an ultimate automated