Antibacterial activity of ordered gold nanorod arrays

Well-packed two- and three-dimensional (2D and 3D) gold nanorod (AuNR) arrays were fabricated using confined convective arraying techniques. The array density could be controlled by changing the concentration of the gold nanorods solution, the velocity of the moving substrate, and the environment air-temperature. The hydrophilic behavior of glass substrates before and after surface modification was studied through contact angle measurements. The affinity and alignment of the AuNR arrays with varying nanorod concentrations and the resulting different array densities were studied using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). Under stable laser intensity irradiation, the photothermal response of the prepared arrays was measured using a thermocouple and the results were analyzed quantitatively. Synthesized AuNR arrays were added to Escherichia coli (E. coli) suspensions and evaluated for photothermal bactericidal activity before and after laser irradiation. The results showed promising bactericidal effect. The severity of pathogen destruction was measured and quantified using fluorescence microscopy, bioatomic force microscopy (Bio-AFM) and flow cytometry techniques. These results indicated that the fabricated AuNR arrays at higher concentrations were highly capable of complete bacterial destruction by photothermal effect compared to the low concentration AuNR arrays. Subsequent laser irradiation of the AuNR arrays resulted in rapid photoheating with remarkable bactericidal activity, which could be used for water treatment to produce microbe-free water.