The preparation, characterization and antibacterial activity of mussel shell waste doped with silver are reported. The characterizations were performed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy equipped with an energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM-EDS), X-ray photoelectronic spectroscopy (XPS), and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The antibacterial activity was evaluated against typical Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coil and Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus. XPS measurement and EDS analysis confirmed the incorporation of silver in the mussel shell. The antibacterial test demonstrated that the prepared material had good antibacterial property, which was mainly attributed to the silver present and slightly higher pH value. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.