Investigation on photo-induced mechanistic activity of GO/TiO₂ hybrid nanocomposite against wound pathogens

Pathogenic microorganism delays wound-healing process by causing infection. In recent years, researchers have developed various kinds of photo-active nanomaterials with enhanced antibacterial properties. This work focus on the preparation of graphene oxide and TiO₂ nanocomposites (GO/TiO₂) as a visible light-induced high efficiency antibacterial material. The hydrothermal method was used for the synthesis of GO/TiO₂ nanocomposites at 180 ^oC for 3 h with different loading percentages of GO (10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 wt. %). The systematic characterization tools including X-ray diffraction analysis, FT-IR, UV-vis, Raman and TEM which were used to understand the physicochemical properties of the prepared GO/TiO₂ nanocomposites. Furthermore, GO/TiO₂ nanocomposites were used as photocatalytic active materials against wound infection-causing bacteria in the presence of visible light irradiation. The possible antibacterial mechanism under presence and absence of light were depicted. The antibacterial mechanism of the GO/TiO₂ nanocomposite was investigated on wound infection-causing bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and Enterococcus faecalis. The high hemocompatibility and the cellular biocompatibility of the nanocomposite aids in using it for wound-healing application. Overall, the results suggest that the GO/TiO₂ nanocomposite could be developed as a photo-active nanomaterial against pathogenic microorganisms that are present in wound.