How does silver work?
BioCote’s silver technology, in the form of silver ions, is incorporated into a product at the time of manufacture. These silver ions then concentrate on the surface of the product, giving it ant microbial protection.
When microbes come into contact with a BioCote® protected surface, the silver ions bind with them and cause the enzymes to breakdown. As the enzymes cannot produce energy, the microbes are unable to reproduce and eventually die.
A more scientific approach:
Once the silver ions have been incorporated into the surface of the product, they are slowly released from an inorganic matrix, via an ion exchange mechanism and maintain an effective concentration on or near the surface of the product.
Silver then works in three ways:
                                          
 
 
1. Penetration of cellular membrane
When the silver ions reach the surface of the microbe (or cell), they bind with the cell’s surface and cause disruption in cellular membrane function.
2. Inhibition of critical enzymes
Once inside the cell, silver ions target cellular thiol (-SH) groups, which are commonly found in critical proteins (enzymes).
The silver ions denature the enzymes. Many of the enzymes denatured by silver ions are needed in the production of cellular energy, so once this energy source is removed, the cell cannot maintain osmotic pressure and necessary substrates will leak out of the cell and the microbe will quickly die.
3. DNA interruption
Initially it was thought that silver caused bonds between the two strands of the double-stranded helix to separate. However it is now believed that the opposite happens, causing the inhibition of transcription, leading to no reproduction of DNA.