A single-step, thermal plasma-assisted technique is reported for size-controlled synthesis of silver-carbon (Ag-C) nanocomposites, to be used for antibacterial applications. Silver nanoparticles of sizes less than 10 nm can directly penetrate into the core of the bacteria, while stiff, nanocrystalline carbon may rupture the microorganisms with their sharp edges. Experiments demonstrated that silver nanoparticles nucleate anchoring tightly on carbon sheets, which can inhibit their aggregation and growth in size and becomes more effective as crystallinity of the carbon enhances further. Nanocomposite samples were synthesized using a hot graphite nozzle and with variation of ambient pressure in the sample collection chamber. The Ag-C sample synthesized at 190 mbar chamber pressure demonstrated the best antibacterial activities. The zone of inhibition was measured for this sample as 18 mm for the gram-positive E. hirae and 15 mm for the gram-negative E. coli bacteria a...

中文翻译：

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用于抗菌应用的小于10 nm尺寸的Ag-C纳米复合材料的一步式直流热等离子体辅助合成

报道了一种单步热等离子体辅助技术，用于银-碳（Ag-C）纳米复合材料的尺寸控制合成，可用于抗菌应用。尺寸小于10 nm的银纳米颗粒可以直接渗透到细菌的核心中，而坚硬的纳米晶碳可能会以其锋利的边缘使微生物破裂。实验表明，银纳米颗粒紧密地锚定在碳片上，可以抑制其聚集和尺寸增长，并随着碳的结晶度进一步提高而变得更加有效。使用热石墨喷嘴并在样品收集室中改变环境压力来合成纳米复合材料样品。在190 mbar腔室压力下合成的Ag-C样品显示出最佳的抗菌活性。