Colloidal Silver Fabrication Using the Spark Discharge System and Its Antimicrobial Effect on Staphylococcus aureus
In this study, published in the journal Medical Engineering & Physics, the researchers used a unique method to create a stable colloidal silver solution consisting of both silver nanoparticles and silver ions. The solution was then tested for antimicrobial effect against Staphylococcus aureus.
According to the study authors “Traditional chemical synthesis methods for colloidal silver may lead to the presence of toxic chemical species or chemical residues, which may inhibit the effectiveness of colloidal silver as an antibacterial agent. To counter these problems a spark discharge system (SDS) was used to fabricate a suspension of colloidal silver in deionized water with no added chemical surfactants.” This resulted in a solution that “contains both metallic silver nanoparticles and ionic silver forms.”
The researchers then studied the antimicrobial effects of this solution on the Staph pathogen. They concluded, “The results show that colloidal silver solutions with an ionic silver concentration of 30 ppm or higher are strong enough to destroy S. aureus. In addition, it was found that a solution’s antimicrobial potency is directly related to its level of silver ion concentration.” In other words, the silver ions were found to be the active, infection-fighting specie of silver.
