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Influence of process parameters and scalability of the semi‐batch production of functionalized silver nanoparticles
Author(s) -
Nogueira André L.,
Machado Ricardo A. F.,
de Souza Alan Z.,
Franco César V.,
Dutra Gabriel B.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the canadian journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1939-019X
pISSN - 0008-4034
DOI - 10.1002/cjce.22530
Subject(s) - zeta potential , silver nanoparticle , materials science , polymer , antibacterial activity , chemical engineering , transmission electron microscopy , nanoparticle , nanotechnology , batch reactor , colloid , volumetric flow rate , scale up , spectrophotometry , chemistry , chromatography , composite material , organic chemistry , catalysis , bacteria , physics , classical mechanics , quantum mechanics , biology , engineering , genetics
Abstract The present work investigated in detail the effects of stirring rate, temperature, and the feed flow rate of the reducing agent on the properties of functionalized silver nanoparticles produced in a semi‐batch reactor. In addition, a specific formulation was tested in chemical reactors with different volumes to demonstrate the scalability of the process. The colloids were characterized using UV‐Vis spectrophotometry, transmission electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction, and zeta potential. The scale up of the process was successfully performed, producing similar results at larger scales to those obtained in the small scale. Standardized antibacterial assays showed that fabric and polymer samples functionalized with the produced silver colloids presented outstanding antibacterial activity. These findings demonstrated that silver nanoparticles with specific properties and promising antibacterial applications can be rapidly produced through suitable tuning of the process parameters regardless the scale of production.