• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.273-279
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• 2012

Silica hybrid silver nanoparticles showing the strong antimicrobial activity, in which nano-silver is bound to silica molecules, has been synthesized using ${\gamma}-irradiation$ at room temperature. The present study relates to an antimicrobial composition for coating fiber products comprising silica hybrid silver nanoparticles. In this study, we describe antimicrobial fiber products coated with the silica hybrid silver nanoparticles and a method of antimicrobially treating fiber products by coating the fiber products with the silica hybrid silver nanoparticles. The antimicrobial fiber products exhibited excellent antimicrobial effects. In detailed practice, when the present composition comprising nanosized silica-silver was applied to a cloth (fabric) in a concentration of $6.4mg\;yard^{-1}$, the viable cell number decreased to less than 10 cells before and after laundering, resulting in a reduction of 99.9% or greater in the viable cell number. The present composition displays long-lasting potent disinfecting effects on bacteria. Also, we investigated the toxicity of silica hybrid silver nanoparticles in rats. The skin of rats was treated with a 30 ppm nanoparticles solution ($2ml\;Kg^{-1}$) for 8 days. No toxicity was detected in the treatment. These results suggest that the fiber products coated with the silica hybrid silver nanoparticles can be used to inhibit the growth of various microorganisms.