New NIST Reference Material Provides a Silver Lining for NanoEHS Research

New NIST Reference Material Provides a Silver Lining for NanoEHS Research

03/03/2015 03:14 PM EST

NIST's new silver nanoparticle reference material is designed for extended shelf life to support environmental health and safety studies. Credit: Hackley/NIST View hi-resolution image

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued a new silver nanoparticle reference materialto support researchers studying potential environmental, health and safety risks associated with the nanoparticles, which are being incorporated in a growing number of consumer and industrial products for their antimicrobial properties. The new NIST test material is believed to be the first of its kind to stabilize the highly reactive silver particles in a freeze-dried, polymer coated, nanoparticle cake for long-term storage.
Nanoparticulate silver is a highly effective bactericide. It is, by some estimates, the most widely used nanomaterial in consumer products. These include socks and shoe liners (it combats foot odor), stain-resistant fabrics, coatings for handrails and keyboards, and a plethora of other applications.
The explosion of “nanosilver” products has driven a like expansion of research to better understand what happens to the material in the environment. “Silver nanoparticles transform, dissolve and precipitate back into nanoparticles again, combine or react with other materials—our understanding of these processes is limited,” says NIST chemist Vince Hackley. “However, in order to study their biological and environmental behavior and fate, one needs to know one is starting with the same material and not some modified or oxidized version. This new reference material targets a broad range of research applications.”
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