Antibacterial activity of plastics coated with silver salt and silver nanoparticles doped organic-inorganic hybrid coatings.

Silver-doped organic–inorganic hybrid materials, prepared by a sol–gel process, have been recently proposed as antibacterial coatings. The antibacterial activity of the coated materials is related to the diffusion capability of Ag+ ions within the coating and can be affected by several parameters, and in principle controlled to some extent by controlling the composition of the coating and the sol-gel process conditions. The effect of the organic-inorganic ratio and type of catalysis on the release of Ag+ from the organic-inorganic hybrid coatings in physiological saline solution at 37 °C, up to 240 h, was examined.