Enhanced aqueous stability of silver oxynitrate through surface modification with alkanethiols

Silver oxynitrate (Ag7NO11) is an effective antimicrobial agent that has been limited in its storage and therapeutic application due to its rapid decomposition in aqueous media. In this work we investigated the effect that depositing a layer of alkane thiols at the material-aqueous interface has on inhibiting the rapid decomposition of silver oxynitrate. It was shown that thin films of dodecanethiol (DT) inhibited the decomposition of silver oxynitrate in aqueous media. DT was shown to form a self-assembled layer at the silver oxynitrate surface, yielding DT modified silver oxynitrate particles that were more resistant to decomposition in several aqueous media: water, phosphate buffer, and phosphate buffered saline. This work provides a simple and effective solution to increase the short lifetime of silver oxynitrate in aqueous environments that is crucial to both the storage and therapeutic application of these materials.