A comparison study of SiO2/nano metal oxide composite sphere for antibacterial application

High surface area mesoporous SiO2 sphere particles which were separately coated with Ag2O, Cu2O, CeO2, and NiO nanoparticles have been synthesized, characterized, and utilized for antibacterial application. The bactericidal effects of the composites were tested toward Staphylococcus aureus in dark or in LED light-illuminated conditions. The results showed the growth of Staphylococcus aureus was greatly inhibited by photocatalytic activities of SiO2/Ag2O and SiO2/Cu2O composites, as compared to those of SiO2/CeO2 and SiO2/NiO composites in 3 h. The low-cost SiO2/Cu2O composite was found as a great antibacterial material to replace the costly component of Ag2O in SiO2/Ag2O composite. The works on the Ag2O, Cu2O, CeO2, and NiO nanoparticles for antibacterial application had been done, however the technique to disperse metal oxide nanoparticles utilizing porous SiO2 carriers for antibacteria has not been evaluated. The comparison among different SiO2-supported metal oxides is necessary to investigate their feasibilities in real applications. This simple work endeavors to select a great antibacterial material with the characteristics of low cost, abundance, and non toxicity to support wide-scale antibacterial application in future.