Since silver compounds and silver ions have been known to have antimicrobial activity, they are used in various products such as medical appliances and living ware.

 Supported by the Tohoku University Exploring Germination and Growth Program for Young Scientists, Miyagi Prefectural Sendai Daini Senior High School Chemistry Club members Saaya Ando, Tomosato Hioki, and Takamichi Yamada analyzed shiny black crystals precipitated on a cathode in the process of producing pure silver dendrites by electrolysis of silver nitrate. They discovered that shiny black crystals consist of Ag2O3 crystal structures. In addition, they have revealed that the crystal is Ag2O3 clathrate which has stronger antimicrobial activity, higher oxidative activity and higher conductivity than Ag2O, and can elute ten times more silver ions than Ag2O. This Ag2O3 clathrate is expected to be applied to various fields as a new silver oxide with strong antimicrobial activity. This achievement was published online in the Journal of Materials Science on November 23, 2011. The paper's title is "Ag2O3 clathrate is a novel and effective antimicrobial agent."

Note: The Tohoku University Exploring Germination and Growth Program for Young Scientists is sponsored by the Fostering Next-Generation Scientists program of the Japan Science and Technology Agency.

More information (Japanese)

[Contact]

Naoshi Watanabe (Teacher)

Miyagi Prefectural Sendai Daini Senior High School

E-mail: n-watanabe*sen2-h.myswan.ne.jp (Replace * with @)

Atsushi Higashitani (Professor)

Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University

E-mail: ahigashi*ige.tohoku.ac.jp (Replace * with @)

TEL: +81-22-217-5715 Fax: +81-22-217-5745