Controlled Release of Biologically Active Silver from Nanosilver Surfaces

Major pathways in the antibacterial activity and eukaryotic toxicity of nanosilver involve the silver cation and its soluble complexes, which are well established thiol toxicants. Through these pathways, nanosilver behaves in analogy to a drug delivery system, in which the particle contains a concentrated inventory of an active species, the ion, which is transported to and released near biological target sites. Although the importance of silver ion in the biological response to nanosilver is widely recognized, the drug delivery paradigm has not been well developed for this system, and there is significant potential to improve nanosilver technologies through controlled release formulations. This article applies elements of the drug delivery paradigm to nanosilver dissolution and presents a systematic study of chemical concepts for controlled release. After presenting thermodynamic calculations of silver species partitioning in biological media, the rates of oxidative silver dissolution are measured for nanoparticles and macroscopic foils and used to derive unified area-based release kinetics. A variety of competing chemical approaches are demonstrated for controlling the ion release rate over 4 orders of magnitude. Release can be systematically slowed by thiol and citrate ligand binding, formation of sulfidic coatings, or the scavenging of peroxy-intermediates. Release can be accelerated by preoxidation or particle size reduction, while polymer coatings with complexation sites alter the release profile by storing and releasing inventories of surface-bound silver. Finally, the ability to tune biological activity is demonstrated through a bacterial inhibition zone assay carried out on selected formulations of controlled release nanosilver.