Figure 5.

Results of typical agar diffusion tests using Staphylococcus aureus plates treated with SiOH@Thy, SiNH₂@Thy and SiCOOH@Thy BDS discs and control samples, i.e., thymol oil adsorbed on paper and thymol oil blended with silica in the dry state (physical mixture) (a). Length of the bacteria-free zone measured in pixels for both S.aureus (gram+) and E.coli (gram −) (b). Ratio between halo intensity of the zone colonized by bacteria and bacteria-free zone of the S.aureus (c) and E.coli (d) plates.