Nonconventional routes to Silver nanoantimicrobials. Technological issues, Bioactivity, and Applications

Silver antimicrobial nanomaterials are the subject of exponentially increasing attention in both academia and industry because of their unprecedented efficiency in preventing biocontamination in several real-life applications. Wet chemical syntheses based on redox processes in micellar media as well as plasma or magnetron sputtering methods are dominating the fields of chemical or physical preparations of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), respectively. The authors of this chapter are experts in three nonconventional methods producing outperforming AgNPs, either as nanocolloids or as multifunctional thin coatings. Electrochemical synthesis of AgNP colloids, ion beam sputtering, and photo-assisted deposition of AgNP-based coatings are reviewed in the present chapter. Technological insights into the processes are offered to the specialized audience, and an overview of the most widely accepted bioactivity mechanisms and the most promising applications is provided