Self - Assembled Monolayers of Firmly Grafted Silver Nanoparticles on Glass Surfaces: Safe Materials with Enhanced Antimicrobial Activity

We describe a simple, efficient way to firmly graft Silver NP on glass surfaces, by the formation of a single NP Self-Assembled Monolayer (SAM). The formation and time evolution of the NP SAM can be easily confirmed by spectroscopic measurements, and imaged with Atomic Force Microscopy investigations. NP are not released in the environment and they are able to exert an efficient antibacterial activity. The latter can be further enhanced or enriched by playing on the grafting structure and on a secondary molecular monolayer deposited on the silver NP layer.