Bringing the Interaction of Silver Nanoparticles with Bacteria to Light

In the last decades the exploitation of silver nanoparticles in novel antibacterial and detection devices have risen to prominence for their well-known specific interaction with bacteria. The vast majority of studies focus on the investigation over the mechanism of action underpinning bacterial eradication, while little efforts have been devoted to the modification of silver optical properties upon interaction with bacteria. Specifically, given the characteristic localized surface plasmon resonance of silver nanostructures, which is sensitive to changes in the charge carrier density or in the dielectric environment, these systems can offer a handle in the detection of bacteria pathogens. In this review, we present the state of art of the research activity on the interaction of silver nanoparticles with bacteria, with emphasis on the modification of their optical properties. This may indeed lead to easy color reading of bacterial tests and pave the way to the development of nanotechnology silver based bacterial detection.