Enhanced anti-microbial response of commercial face mask using colloidal silver nanoparticles

The present article highlights, improvement in the quality of commercially available face mask with nanoparticles (NPs) coating to protect against infectious agents has been discussed. For this purpose, we first prepared a stock solution of colloidal Ag (nano) with 10,000 ppm concentration by facile and cost-effective synthetic approach using biodegradable and human friendly reagent as capping agent at room temperature. The commercial face mask was then treated with colloidal silver (Ag) solution with two different concentrations viz. 50 ppm and 100 ppm. The characterisation of the treated face mask fibre was performed prior to its testing for the antimicrobial activity for Gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram negative (Escherichia coli) bacteria. The results showed that the face mask fibre treated with 100 ppm colloidal Ag solution shows highest antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria. The UV-Visible spectrum confirmed the formation of Ag nanoparticles in colloidal solution supported by photoluminescence (PL), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy, X-Ray diffraction analysis (XRD), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Energy dispersive analysis X-Ray (EDAX) and Particle size analysis (PSA).