Synthesis of Copper Nanowires and Their Antimicrobial Activity on Strains Isolated Persistent Endodontic Infections.

Copper nanowires, Cu-NWs may have a good antimicrobial effect in endodontic treatment. The objective of this work was to synthesize, characterize and evaluate the antibacterial activity of Cu-NWs on strains obtained from human root canal. A wide distribution of Cu-NWs diameters from 30 to 90 nm was obtained with lengths ranging from 5 to 40 μm. Structural analysis of Cu-NWs showed crystalline planes, which corresponded to Cu, with preferential growth in the direction [110]. The geometric mean MICs was of 289.30 μg/mL, with a MIC50 of 256 μg/mL and a MIC90 of 512 μg/mL for Cu-NWs. Cellular viability of 28 a biofilm tends to decrease the longer it is exposed to Cu-NWs. Synthesized and characterized Cu-NWs have a good antimicrobial effect against clinical strains used in the present study and has a potential to be used for disinfection of the root canal system.