Antibacterial activity of silver photodeposited nepheline thin film coatings

Antibacterial characteristic of silver makes this material very appealing for surface coating on various substrates. In this study, we investigated different silver containing powder for this purpose. Specifically we examined the antibacterial activity of Ag/nepheline compared with Ag/TiO2 and Ag/SiO2. Our analysis suggested “Ag/nepheline” composite thin film is an appropriate coating for production of antibacterial ceramic tiles in large scale. In our investigation, FactSage software was used for the thermodynamic analysis. Nano-silver was obtained from silver nitrate solution by ultraviolet illumination of distilled water. In this process, silver was doped on micronized TiO2, SiO2, or nepheline. The silver composites and monolithic silver were sprayed with water on raw tiles and sintered in a furnace. Exploring the results suggested the best component for achieving antibacterial tile is Ag/nepheline.