Abstract: Silver-exchanged zeolites and clays are used in
polymer composites to confer broad-spectrum antimicrobial
properties on a range of functional materials. Tobermorite is a layer
lattice mineral whose potential as a carrier for Ag+ ions in
antibacterial composites has not yet been investigated. Accordingly,
in this study, synthetic tobermorite was ion-exchanged with 10 wt%
silver ions and the resulting material was incorporated into a
composite film with chitosan. Chitosan is a biocompatible,
biodegradable derivative of chitin, a polysaccharide obtained from
the shells of crustaceans. The solvent-cast Ag+-exchanged
tobermorite-chitosan films were found to exhibit antimicrobial action
against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas
aeruginosa.