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Nanocomposite Sprayed Films with Photo-Thermal Properties for Remote Bacteria Eradication
Mykola Borzenkov1, Giuseppe Chirico2,3, Piersandro Pallavicini4
1Department of Medicine and Surgery, Nanomedicine Center, University of Milano-Bicocca, Via Raoul Follereau 3, 20854 Vedano al Lambro (MB), Italy.
Abstract:
Currently there is a strong demand for novel protective materials with efficient antibacterial properties. Nanocomposite materials loaded with photo-thermally active nanoparticles can offer promising opportunities due to the local increase of temperature upon near-infrared (NIR) light exposure capable of eradicating bacteria. In this work, we fabricated antibacterial films obtained by spraying on glass slides aqueous solutions of polymers, containing highly photo-thermally active gold nanostars (GNS) or Prussian Blue (PB) nanoparticles. Under NIR light irradiation with low intensities (0.35 W/cm2) these films demonstrated a pronounced photo-thermal effect: ΔT up to 26.4 °C for the GNS-containing films and ΔT up to 45.8 °C for the PB-containing films. In the latter case, such a local temperature increase demonstrated a remarkable effect on a Gram-negative strain (P. aeruginosa) killing (84% of dead bacteria), and a promising effect on a Gram-positive strain (S. aureus) eradication (69% of dead bacteria). The fabricated films are promising prototypes for further development of lightweight surfaces with efficient antibacterial action that can be remotely activated on demand.
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