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Updated: Oct 16, 2025
Engineering Antiviral Agents via Surface Plasmon Resonance
Published on: June 14, 2022
Molecular Engineering of Laser-Induced Graphene for Potential-Driven Broad-Spectrum Antimicrobial and Antiviral
Meijia Gu1, Libei Huang2, Zhaoyu Wang3
1Key Laboratory of Combinatorial Biosynthesis and Drug Discovery, Ministry of Education, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430071, China.
Abstract:
Worldwide, countless deaths have been caused by the coronavirus disease 2019. In addition to the virus variants, an increasing number of fatal fungal infections have been reported, which further exacerbates the scenario. Therefore, the development of porous surfaces with both antiviral and antimicrobial capacities is of urgent need. Here, a cost-effective, nontoxic, and metal-free strategy is reported for the surface engineering of laser-induced graphene (LIG). The authors covalently engineer the surface potential of the LIG from -14 to ≈+35 mV (LIG+ ), enabling both high-efficiency antimicrobial and antiviral performance under mild conditions. Specifically, several candidate microorganisms of different types, including Escherichia coli, Streptomyces tenebrarius, and Candida albicans, are almost completely inactivated after 10-min solar irradiation. LIG+ also exhibits a strong antiviral effect against human coronaviruses: 99% HCoV-OC43 and 100% HCoV-229E inactivation are achieved after 20-min treatment. Such enhancement may also be observed against other types of pathogens that are heat-sensitive and oppositely charged. Besides, the covalent modification strategy alleviates the leaching problem, and the low cytotoxicity of LIG+ makes it advantageous. This study highlights the synergy of surface potential and photothermal effect in the inactivation of pathogens and it provides a direction for designing porous materials for airborne disease removal and water disinfection.
Insights
Researchers developed a novel porous graphene material that inactivates bacteria and viruses using solar power. This metal-free, low-toxicity surface engineering offers a promising solution for pathogen removal and water disinfection.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Nanotechnology
- Biotechnology
Background:
- Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and emerging fungal infections pose significant global health threats.
- There is a critical need for advanced materials with combined antiviral and antimicrobial properties.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a cost-effective, nontoxic, and metal-free strategy for engineering porous surfaces with enhanced pathogen inactivation capabilities.
- To investigate the efficacy of modified laser-induced graphene (LIG) with engineered surface potential against various microorganisms and viruses.
Main Methods:
- Surface engineering of laser-induced graphene (LIG) to create positively charged LIG (LIG+) with a surface potential shift from -14 to approximately +35 mV.
- Evaluation of antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, Streptomyces tenebrarius, and Candida albicans under solar irradiation.
- Assessment of antiviral activity against human coronaviruses (HCoV-OC43 and HCoV-229E) after solar irradiation treatment.
Main Results:
- LIG+ demonstrated near-complete inactivation of tested bacteria and fungi within 10 minutes of solar irradiation.
- LIG+ achieved 99% inactivation of HCoV-OC43 and 100% inactivation of HCoV-229E within 20 minutes.
- The covalent modification strategy minimized leaching, and LIG+ exhibited low cytotoxicity.
Conclusions:
- Engineered LIG+ surfaces effectively inactivate diverse pathogens by combining surface potential modification and photothermal effects.
- This approach offers a sustainable and safe method for developing porous materials for airborne disease control and water disinfection.
- The strategy provides a new direction for designing advanced materials to combat infectious diseases.
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