High-Efficiency Near-Infrared Light Responsive Antibacterial System for Synergistic Ablation of Bacteria and Biofilm.

Bacterial infection is seriously threatening human health, and the design of high-efficiency and good biocompatibility antibacterial agents is an urgent problem to be solved. However, with the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria, the existing antibacterial agents have low killing efficiency, and the formation of biofilms has further weakened the therapeutic effect. Herein, we constructed an efficient antibacterial system mediated by near-infrared light for synergistic antibacterial and biofilm dissipation. Specifically, the ZnO/TiCT with heterojunction was synthesized by hydrothermal growth of ZnO on the surface of lamellar TiCT-MXene. The prepared ZnO/TiCT had better photothermal ability than ZnO and TiCT, respectively. The local thermal effect can not only destroy the integrity of the bacterial membrane but also promote the release of Zn ions and further improve the antibacterial performance. ZnO/TiCT achieved a 100% sterilization rate (better than either ZnO or TiCT) at 150 μg mL. The biofilm dissipation experiment further proved its excellent biofilm ablation effect. More importantly, the results of cell culture and animal experiments have demonstrated its good biological safety. In summary, this new type of nanomaterial shows strong local chemical photothermal sterilization ability and has great potential to replace traditional antibacterial agents.