Antibacterial activity of carbon-based nanomaterials

Abstract

Due to the global increasing spread of bacterial resistivity, the emergency for the development of new antibacterial agents is very high. The novel alternative for the treatment of bacterial infections must be developed fast and it has to follow the dynamic of bacterial resistivity progress. Recently developed nanomaterials showed great potential in antibacterial therapy. Especially interesting are carbon-based nanomaterials, which show unusual both physical and chemical properties, but also their biosafety is high. In this chapter, the recent progress on the antibacterial activity of different carbonbased nanomaterials is presented. Graphene, graphene oxide, graphene and carbon quantum dots, carbon nanotubes, fullerenes as well as nanodiamonds are discussed in this chapter. First, the structure, chemical and physical properties of carbon nanomaterials are discussed and after various mechanisms of their antibacterial activity are presented such as photodynamic effects, photothermal activity, isolation by wrapping, oxidative stress, mechanical damage, lipid extraction and inhibition of metabolism.