Highly dispersed amorphous ZnO on a petal-like porous silica-clay composite with enhanced antimicrobial properties

Nano zinc oxides (ZnO) had aroused enthusiastic attention in bacteriostasis. However, the antibacterial efficiency of the nano ZnO was greatly reduced due to agglomeration during the practical application. Herein, an effective approach to the uniform dispersion of ZnO on montmorillonite (Mt) intercalated by porous silica was reported to improve the antibacterial efficiency. A petal-like silica-clay composite (SC) loaded with ZnO (SC/ZnO) was synthesized, the appropriate ratio of Mt and TEOS to completely exfoliated the Mt sheets was explored, which was 0.88 g Mt and 2 mL TEOS . Benefiting from the microporous silica microspheres , the composites possessed a large specific surface area about 239 m 2 /g and well-dispersed ZnO, with a similar zinc content of Mt-ZnO about 10%. Comparatively, SC/ZnO composites showed enhanced antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus with respect to Mt-ZnO. The results indicated that silica modification provided a promising strategy to improve the bacteriostatic efficiency of "metal oxide-clay" composites.