doi:10.1155/2009/498505 Research Article Synthesis and Antimicrobial Activity of

A silver-hydroxyapatite nanocomposite has been obtained by a colloidal chemical route and subsequent reduction process in H2/Ar atmosphere at 350◦C. This material has been characterized by TEM, XRD, and UV-Visible spectroscopy, showing the silver nanoparticles (∼65 nm) supported onto the HA particles (∼130 nm) surface without a high degree of agglomeration. The bactericidal effect against common Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria has been also investigated. The results indicated a high antimicrobial activity for Staphylococcus aureus, Pneumococcus and Escherichia coli, so this material can be a promising antimicrobial biomaterial for implant and reconstructive surgery applications. Copyright © 2009 Marcos Dı́az et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 1