Abstract
In the late 20th century, with increasing emergence of antibiotic-resistance bacterial strain, conventional antibiotic therapies become less efficient. Bacterial infection is becoming a serious issue, developing new antibacterial materials to effectively inhibit or kill bacteria is becoming crucial. Graphene, with 2D structure of single-atom-thick sheet of packed carbon atoms, possesses numerous fascinating properties and applications, including inhibition of the growth of bacteria with minimal toxicity. In this work, for the first time, we studied the photothermal effects of magnetic-reduced graphene oxide functionalized with glutaraldehyde (MRGOGA) for an efficient capture and killing of bacteria. Herein, we took advantage of the photothermal properties of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) upon NIR irradiation. Glutaraldehyde (GA) is working as a capturing agent for bacteria. Furthermore, with this magnetic material, the captured bacteria can be easily locked into position by the external magnetic field, which enhances NIR irradiation of generating local heating effect by MRGOGA to efficiently kill the captured bacteria. To conclude, we have shown that, with 80 ppm MRGOGA, both gram positive and negative bacteria can be killed efficiently up to 99% upon ten minutes NIR irradiation. Furthermore, a dynamic system based on microfluidic chip confirms the re-usability of MRGOGA and offers a biocompatible platform for further applications such as the purification of serum. With magnetic characteristic of this material, we expect a potential utilization in vivo since the material is easily mobilized at the targeted position, followed by NIR irradiation, and with reduced damage to the healthy cells.