Abstract:
Engineering research has been expanded by the advent of material fusion, which has
led to the development of composites that are more reliable and cost-effective. This investigation
aims to utilise this concept to promote a circular economy by maximizing the adsorption of silver
nanoparticles and silver nitrate onto recycled chicken eggshell membranes, resulting in optimized
antimicrobial silver/eggshell membrane composites. The pH, time, concentration, and adsorption
temperatures were optimized. It was confirmed that these composites were excellent candidates
for use in antimicrobial applications. The silver nanoparticles were produced through chemical
synthesis using sodium borohydride as a reducing agent and through adsorption/surface reduction
of silver nitrate on eggshell membranes. The composites were thoroughly characterized by various
techniques, including spectrophotometry, atomic absorption spectrometry, scanning electron
microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray
photoelectron spectroscopy, as well as agar well diffusion and MTT assay. The results indicate that
silver/eggshell membrane composites with excellent antimicrobial properties were produced using
both silver nanoparticles and silver nitrate at a pH of 6, 25 C, and after 48 h of agitation. These
materials exhibited remarkable antimicrobial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Bacillus
subtilis, resulting in 27.77% and 15.34% cell death, respectively.
