Activity of Nanocrystalline Gold and Silver Alloys

• Author / Creator

  Unrau, Kevin R

• Gold and silver dressing alloys were created by DC magnetron sputtering and compared with pure silver nanocrystalline dressings using conventional biological and physical characterization techniques. While the gold/silver dressings were weaker antimicrobials than the pure silver nanocrystalline structures, the addition of gold reduces the minimum crystallite size from 17 to 4 nm. This increases the number of grain boundary atoms from 12 to 40% which could augment the anti-inflammatory properties of the dressings. The formation of gold oxide (Au2O3) could be responsible for the observed decrease in crystallite size. Increasing the oxygen content of the dressings increased antimicrobial potency and dressing longevity. The oxygen tended to be combined in O-O bonds rather than Ag-O bonds. Heat treatment reduced both the antimicrobial and longevity parameters of the dressings. Sterilization by electron beam irradiation was determined to preserve the antimicrobial and longevity properties of the dressing the best.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Gold
  • Wound dressing
  • Silver
  • Nanocrystal

• Graduation date

  Spring 2012

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3M91X

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.