Finally, in view of their potential environmental impact,
it seems clear that nanosilver-containing materials, while
releasing silver ions to achieve bactericidal action, should
keep the nanoparticles within the host structure to prevent
an uncontrolled release of metallic nanoparticles to the
environment. Therefore, in this work, the potential release
of silver nanoparticles from the Ag–chitosan matrix was
specifically studied by subjecting the composites to severe
mechanical conditions (ultrasonication).