Nano-Silver Particles (AGNP) have an extremely large relative surface area, (10-11 m2 /g) thus increasing their contact with bacteria or fungi, and vastly improving their bactericidal and © Copyright of NICHEM SOLUTIONS fungicidal effectiveness. AGNP is very reactive with proteins. When contacting bacteria and fungus, it will adversely affect cellular metabolism and inhibit cell growth. It also suppresses respiration, the basal metabolism of the electron transfer system, and the transport of the substrate into the microbial cell membrane. Furthermore, it inhibits the multiplication and growth of those bacteria and fungi which cause infection, odor, itchiness and sores. Hence, AGNPs are widely applied to socks in order to prohibit the growth of bacteria. In addition, AGNP can be applied to a range of other healthcare products such as dressings for burns, scald, skin donor and recipient sites [2,3,4].
Titanium Dioxide is a photocatalyst; once it is illuminated by light with energy higher than its band gaps, the electrons in TiO2 will jump from the valence band to the conduction band, and the electron (e) and electric hole (h+) pairs will form on the surface of the photocatalyst. The negative electrons and oxygen will combine into O2 -; the positive electric holes and water will generate hydroxyl radicals. Since both are unstable chemical substances, when the organic compound falls on the surface of the photocatalyst it will combine with O2 – and OHrespectively and turn into carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O). This cascade reaction is called ‘oxidation-reduction’, [5] and the mechanism is shown in Figure 2 below. Through the reaction, the photocatalyst is able to decompose common organic matters in the air such as odor molecules, bacteria and viruses.