APPLICATIONS OF SILVER NP´S
These days we can find a wide variety of applications for nanostructures, and constantly we are finding new applications for nanomaterials. Thanks to their unique properties as well as their intensive research, silver nanoparticles have a wide range of applications, application for research as well as for day to day applications.
It is well known that silver nanoparticles have antimicrobial properties. For that reason silver nanoparticles are used increasingly in different products, for example in wound dressings, paints, water filters, cosmetics and even footwear. On the other hand silver nanoparticles have been widely studied as anti-cancer treatment and are still a promising treatment for this disease.
Silver nanoparticles due to their size can be used as a platform for single molecules like proteins, DNA or RNA, which enables the development of precise nanoscale devices. AgNPs can be applied to some fluorescence assays, this have shown to improve the sensitivity in microarray platforms.
Silver nanoparticles embedded in transparent materials can create optical filters. AgNPs can be used to enhance the Raman scattering based detection of biomolecules, for example for the detecting the expression of different variants of genes or viral DNA. Other applications include plasmonic devices (solar cells) and as sensors.
Silver nanoparticles are now used to produce conductive inks with thermal and electrical properties, for consumer goods such as e-readers. One example is that silver nanoparticles inks are expected to replace indium tin oxide conductive films for touch screen applications.