Silver-Incorporated Mussel-Inspired Polydopamine Coatings on Mesoporous Silica as an Efficient Nanocatalyst and Antimicrobial Agent

To tackle severe environmental pollution, a search for materials by economical and eco-friendly preparations is demanding for public health. In this study, a novel in situ method to form silver nanoparticles under mild conditions was developed using biomimetic reducing agents of polydopamine coated on the rodlike mesoporous silica of SBA-15. The synthesized SBA-15/polydopamine (PDA)/Ag nanocomposites were characterized by a combination of physicochemical and electrochemical methods. 4-Nitrophenol (4-NP) and methylene blue (MB) were used as models for the evaluation of the prepared nanocatalysts of SBA-15/PDA/Ag in which the composite exhibited enhanced catalytic performance toward degrading 4-NP in solution and MB on the membrane, respectively. Additionally, compared with that of solid core-shell SiO₂/PDA/Ag, tubular SBA-15/PDA/Ag showed the prolonged inhibitory effect on microbial growth as typified by Escherichia coli (60 h), Staphylococcus aureus (36 h), and Aspergillus fumigatus (60 h), which demonstrated efficient control of silver nanoparticles release from the mesopores. The constructed dual-functional SBA-15/PDA/Ag as the long-term antimicrobial agent and the catalyst of industrial products provides an integrated nanoplatform to deal with environmental concerns.