Antimicrobial characteristic and mechanism of Nano-fumed silica salt grafted N,N-dimethyl-n-tetradecylamine

Objective. To investigate the antimicrobial characteristic and mechanism of Nano-fumed silica modified with quaternary ammonium compound. Method. Antimicrobial characteristic and mechanism was tested by quantitative suspension test, TTC test and the test of integrity of bacterial membrane. Results. The result of quantitative suspension test shows that the absorption ability of Nano-fumed silica modified with quaternary ammonium group is much higher than that of Nano-fumed silica. The results for TTC and testing integrity of cell membrane prove that the antibacterial process of Nano-fumed silica modified with quaternary ammonium group kill bacteria by destroying the cell membrane to outflow DNA and RNA in the cytoplasm. Conclusion. The results indicate the mechanism of antibacterial activity is to absorb bacterial to its surface. [Life Science Journal. 2009; 6(1): 52 - 54] (ISSN: 1097 - 8135).