Silver-Incorporated Mussel-Inspired Polydopamine Coatings on Mesoporous Silica as an Efficient Nanocatalyst and Antimicrobial Agent

To tackle severe environmental pollution, a search for materials by economical and eco-friendly preparations is demanding for public health. In this study, a novel in situ method to form silver nanoparticles under mild conditions was developed using biomimetic reducing agents of polydopamine coated on the rodlike mesoporous silica of SBA-15. The synthesized SBA-15/polydopamine (PDA)/Ag nanocomposites were characterized by a combination of physicochemical and electrochemical methods. 4-Nitrophenol (4-NP) and methylene blue (MB) were used as models for the evaluation of the prepared nanocatalysts of SBA-15/PDA/Ag in which the composite exhibited enhanced catalytic performance toward degrading 4-NP in solution and MB on the membrane, respectively. Additionally, compared with that of solid core–shell SiO₂/PDA/Ag, tubular SBA-15/PDA/Ag showed the prolonged inhibitory effect on microbial growth as typified by <i>Escherichia coli</i> (60 h), <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (36 h), and <i>Aspergillus fumigatus</i> (60 h), which demonstrated efficient control of silver nanoparticles release from the mesopores. The constructed dual-functional SBA-15/PDA/Ag as the long-term antimicrobial agent and the catalyst of industrial products provides an integrated nanoplatform to deal with environmental concerns