@conference{
author = "Budimir, Milica and Marković, Zoran M. and Todorović-Marković, Biljana",
year = "2021",
abstract = "Microbial contamination is a major problem that impacts many facets of our lives, including health care, water purification systems, food storage, etc. Decades of inadequate use and disposal of antibiotics have led to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria strains. Therefore, it's critical to develop new antibacterial materials that can successfully combat both planktonic Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, as well as their biofilms. Antibacterial materials can inhibit biofilm formation and overcome difficulties associated with the use of conventional antimicrobial agents, such as residual toxicity, shortterm antibacterial activity, and the development of antimicrobial resistance [1]. The application of carbon nanomaterials is an emerging area of nanoscience and nanotechnology in the last few decades. When material dimensions are reduced to the nanoscale, they display unique physical, chemical, electrical and optical properties compared to their macro-scaled counterparts. Recently, researchers have focused on their biological properties, owing to their great potential as antibacterial agents and low toxicity [2]. In this regard, the goal of this work is to present several carbon/polymer nanocomposites with outstanding antibacterial properties, using two alternative approaches: photothermal and photodynamic effects. The first strategy for successful bacteria capture and eradication that will be presented here exploits the photothermal effect. The developed device consists of a flexible Kapton interface modified with gold nanoholes (Au NH) substrate, coated with reduced graphene oxide-polyethyleneimine thin films (K/Au NH/rGO-PEI) [3]. The K/Au NH/rGO–PEI device is efficient in capturing and eliminating both planktonic Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Gram-negative Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria after 10 min of NIR (980 nm) irradiation. Additionally, the developed device could effectively destroy and eradicate Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis) biofilms after 30 min of irradiation. In the second experiment, a photoactive nanocomposite with excellent antibacterial properties was formed by incorporating hydrophobic quantum dots (hCQDs) in the polyurethane (PU) matrix. In this nanocomposite, a photodynamic effect is exploited, through the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in hCQDs upon irradiation with low-power blue light (470 nm). Additionally, gamma-irradiation of various doses (1, 10, and 200 kGy) in the air environment was applied to the formed nanocomposite to alter its physical and chemical properties and improve its antibacterial efficacy. After the pretreatment with gamma-irradiation, the antibacterial activity of the presented nanocomposite was greatly improved, and the best result was achieved for the irradiation dose of 200kGy. In this sample, total bacteria elimination was achieved after 15 min of irradiation by blue light, for both Gram-positive and Gram-negative strains [4]. Both of the developed nanocomposites are simple and rather universal in terms of eradication of different microorganisms, with a potential application in biomedicine, industry, or daily-used objects.",
publisher = "Belgrade : Institute of Physics Belgrade",
journal = "PHOTONICA2021 : 8th International School and Conference on Photonics and HEMMAGINERO workshop : Abstracts of Tutorial, Keynote, Invited Lectures, Progress Reports and Contributed Papers; August 23-27, 2021; Belgrade",
title = "Carbon nanocomposites as advantageous antibacterial surfaces",
pages = "40",
url = "https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_vinar_10895"
}