Abstract A novel antibacterial agent was synthesized from Japanese cedar sawdust, a representative woody biomass resource, through chemical modification using potassium permanganate. The oxidation treatment introduced carboxyl groups onto the biomass surface, providing active sites for Ag + adsorption. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis revealed characteristic Ag 3d peaks at 367.8 and 373.8 eV, confirming the successful adsorption of Ag + onto the modified biomass. The saturated adsorption capacities of Ag + were determined to be 48.3 mg g − 1 by the batch method and 73.5 mg g − 1 by the column method. The antibacterial activity of the resulting Ag + -adsorbed material (Cedar-O-Ag) was evaluated against Escherichia coli by observing turbidity, Ag + release, and colony formation. Cedar-O-Ag induced bacterial cell lysis, with complete bactericidal activity observed at 50 mg, corresponding to an Ag + concentration of 0.347 mmol L − 1 . Colony formation assays confirmed that E. coli growth was entirely inhibited at this concentration. Furthermore, reusability tests demonstrated that Cedar-O-Ag maintained bactericidal activity for up to three consecutive cycles. Overall, these results show that woody biomass can serve as an effective, sustainable, and reusable carrier for antibacterial materials.
Tsujimoto et al. (Sat,) studied this question.