ANTIBACTERIAL PITCH-BASED ACTIVATED CARBON-FIBER SUPPORTING SILVER

Pitch-based activated carbon fiber (ACF) supporting silver (ACF(Ag)) w as prepared by pre-oxidization, carbonization, activation, immersion a nd decomposition processes. The structures, surface photographs and fu nctional groups of the ACF and the ACF(Ag) were investigated. The ACF exhibited increased oxygen-containing functional groups and decreased BET specific surface areas after supporting silver particles. The ACF( Ag) with C-OH, C=O, -COOH and -COOAg groups showed strong adsorption a nd antibacterial activity against E. coli, which suggests it is a prom ising antibacterial material. However, ways of controlling the distrib ution of silver-particle size should be found before any practical app lication. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.