TY - JOUR
T1 - Broad-Spectrum Solvent-free Layered Black Phosphorus as a Rapid Action Antimicrobial
AU - Shaw, Z. L.
AU - Kuriakose, Sruthi
AU - Cheeseman, Samuel
AU - Mayes, Edwin L. H.
AU - Murali, Alishiya
AU - Oo, Zay Yar
AU - Ahmed, Taimur
AU - Tran, Nhiem
AU - Boyce, Kylie
AU - Chapman, James
AU - McConville, Christopher F.
AU - Crawford, Russell J.
AU - Taylor, Patrick D.
AU - Christofferson, Andrew J.
AU - Truong, Vi Khanh
AU - Spencer, Michelle J. S.
AU - Elbourne, Aaron
AU - Walia, Sumeet
PY - 2021/4/21
Y1 - 2021/4/21
N2 - Antimicrobial resistance has rendered many conventional therapeutic measures, such as antibiotics, ineffective. This makes the treatment of infections from pathogenic micro-organisms a major growing health, social, and economic challenge. Recently, nanomaterials, including two-dimensional (2D) materials, have attracted scientific interest as potential antimicrobial agents. Many of these studies, however, rely on the input of activation energy and lack real-world utility. In this work, we present the broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity of few-layered black phosphorus (BP) at nanogram concentrations. This property arises from the unique ability of layered BP to produce reactive oxygen species, which we harness to create this unique functionality. BP is shown to be highly antimicrobial toward susceptible and resistant bacteria and fungal species. To establish cytotoxicity with mammalian cells, we showed that both L929 mouse and BJ-5TA human fibroblasts were metabolically unaffected by the presence of BP. Finally, we demonstrate the practical utility of this approach, whereby medically relevant surfaces are imparted with antimicrobial properties via functionalization with few-layer BP. Given the self-degrading properties of BP, this study demonstrates a viable and practical pathway for the deployment of novel low-dimensional materials as antimicrobial agents without compromising the composition or nature of the coated substrate.
AB - Antimicrobial resistance has rendered many conventional therapeutic measures, such as antibiotics, ineffective. This makes the treatment of infections from pathogenic micro-organisms a major growing health, social, and economic challenge. Recently, nanomaterials, including two-dimensional (2D) materials, have attracted scientific interest as potential antimicrobial agents. Many of these studies, however, rely on the input of activation energy and lack real-world utility. In this work, we present the broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity of few-layered black phosphorus (BP) at nanogram concentrations. This property arises from the unique ability of layered BP to produce reactive oxygen species, which we harness to create this unique functionality. BP is shown to be highly antimicrobial toward susceptible and resistant bacteria and fungal species. To establish cytotoxicity with mammalian cells, we showed that both L929 mouse and BJ-5TA human fibroblasts were metabolically unaffected by the presence of BP. Finally, we demonstrate the practical utility of this approach, whereby medically relevant surfaces are imparted with antimicrobial properties via functionalization with few-layer BP. Given the self-degrading properties of BP, this study demonstrates a viable and practical pathway for the deployment of novel low-dimensional materials as antimicrobial agents without compromising the composition or nature of the coated substrate.
KW - antibacterial
KW - antimicrobial
KW - bacteria
KW - fungi
KW - phosphorus
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85105086462&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://purl.org/au-research/grants/ARC/LE170100096
U2 - 10.1021/acsami.1c01739
DO - 10.1021/acsami.1c01739
M3 - Article
C2 - 33844492
AN - SCOPUS:85105086462
SN - 1944-8244
VL - 13
SP - 17340
EP - 17352
JO - ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
JF - ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
IS - 15
ER -