Interaction between Gelatin and Nano-Silver Particle: Foundation for Nano-Silver in Antibacterial Leather

In order to explain the interaction between collagen and nano-silver, gelatin solution was blended with nano-silver particles (AgNPs) with particle size 26 mm, and then the mixture was interacted under different time, pH and temperature. The changes in the process were measured by UV-Vis, fluorescence spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering and FT-IR. The results showed that the main type of reaction between gelatin and AgNPs was electrostatic interaction and the interaction was diffusive encounters. The particle size and distribution of nano-silver would not be affected by gelatin, however, there was dynamic fluorescence quenching of gelatin after nano-silver particle induced. The longer time and lower pH were beneficial for the interaction process while the interaction balanced after 60 min and pH 3.0 resulted in the most drastic interaction. Moreover, nano-silver would not impair gelatin structure during the interaction process. In short, the results in this work might be a foundation and reference for applying nano-silver in antibacterial leather producing.