Sonochemical Functionalization of SiO Nanoparticles with Citric Acid and Monoethanolamine and Its Remarkable Effect on Antibacterial Activity.

Nanoparticles (NPs) are excellent antibacterial agents due to their ability to interact with microorganisms at the cellular level. However, their antimicrobial capacity can be limited by their tendency to agglomerate. Functionalizing NPs with suitable ligands improves their stability and dispersion in different media and enhances their antibacterial activity. The present work studied the functionalization of SiO NPs using the sonochemical method and the Influence of organic ligands on antimicrobial activity (AA). The organic ligands studied were citric acid (CA) and monoethanolamine (MEA). X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results confirmed the amorphous structure of SiO NPs and their functionalization. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed that functionalization with MEA (SiO-MEA NPs) is more favored compared to AC (SiO-CA NPs), and the organic ligand content was 34.42% and 28.0%, respectively. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and RAMAN spectroscopy results confirmed the functionalization of NPs through the presence of carboxyl and amino groups. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and zeta potential results showed that functionalization of SiO NPs helped to improve their dispersion and prevent their agglomeration. Furthermore, the results of antibacterial activity against and showed that the functionalization provided a significant improvement in the antibacterial activity (AA) of the SiO NPs, where the SiO-CA NPs showed the highest activity, with a 99.99% inhibition percentage at concentrations of 200 ppm against both and strains. The AA is maintained at high concentrations of 1200 ppm, which is essential in applications requiring high percentages of biocidal NPs, such as marine coatings.