SYNTHESIS AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF SILVER NANOPARTICLES STABILIZED BY CITRATE ANIONS

Widespread use of synthetic antimicrobial drugs leads to the development of antibiotic resistance of pathogenic strains of microorganisms. Therefore, today researchers are very interested in drugs based on nanoparticles of metals, in particular silver and copper, which have antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral activity. One of the reasons for the high interest of researchers in AgNPs as an antimicrobial agent is the significantly lower toxicity of AgNPs compared to Ag+ ions. High antibacterial efficiency of silver nano¬particles is achieved due to their developed surface, which provides maximum contact with the environment. In addition, such nanoparticles are quite small and are able to penetrate cell membranes, to affect intracellular processes from within. Therefore, the aim of this work was to obtain concentrated colloidal silver solutions stabilized by citrate anions, which simultaneously provide satisfactory stabilization of colloidal silver solutions and are non-toxic, as well as to investigate the antimicrobial action of synthesized AgNPs. The solution of citrate stabilized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been obtained via the reaction of reduction of silver nitrate by