Black phosphorus
(BP) as
a layered two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor material with a tunable
band gap has attracted growing attention for promising applications
in diverse fields including biotechnology owing to its excellent physical
and chemical properties. In this study, BP crystals were synthesized
using a chemical vapor transport method and exfoliated into BP nanosheets
in deoxygenated water or hexane. Next, monodisperse Au nanoparticles
that were synthesized using a surfactant-assisted chemical reduction
method were assembled on exfoliated BP nanosheets hexane to yield
BP/Au nanocomposites. The photothermal antibacterial and antibiofilm
activities of BP nanosheets and BP/Au nanocomposites were investigated
against Enterococcus faecalis, a pathogenic
biofilm-forming bacterium, by studying the photothermal effect and
bacterial growth curve and using colony counting and
live/dead fluorescence staining methods under near-infrared (NIR)
light irradiation. Thanks to the higher photothermal conversion efficiency
of BP/Au nanocomposites than that of bare BP nanosheets under NIR
light irradiation, they destructed the bacterial cell membrane more
efficiently than bare BP with the biofilm inhibition rate of 58%.
It should be noted that this is the first study on the antibacterial
and antibiofilm activity of BP/Au nanocomposites via a photothermal
process under NIR light irradiation. This work shows the potential
of BP/Au nanocomposites in fighting against pathogenic bacteria and
paves the way for the exploration of antibacterial platforms based
on the biocompatible 2D semiconductor BP.
A novel ternary nanocomposite, mesoporous
graphitic carbon nitride/black
phosphorus-AgPd (denoted mpg-CN/BP-AgPd), was successfully fabricated
by assembling the as-prepared AgPd alloy nanoparticles (NPs) on mesoporous
graphitic carbon nitride/black phosphorus (mpg-CN/BP) binary composites.
This novel nanocomposite comprises a heterojunction support material
formed by two distinct nonmetallic semiconductors (mpg-CN and BP)
with adaptable band gaps and edge voltages, providing enhanced catalytic
activity to AgPd alloy NPs in hydrogen generation from the methanolysis
of ammonia borane (AB) compared to its single components under the
blue light-emitting diode (LED) light illumination. The yielded mpg-CN/BP-AgPd
ternary nanocomposites were characterized by many advanced analytical
techniques (transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution
TEM (HR-TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
(XPS), photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL), time-resolved spectroscopy,
inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS), and fourier
transform infrared (FTIR), and then they were tested as catalysts
in hydrogen generation from the methanolysis of AB at room temperature.
Several parameters such as the effect of mpg-CN/BP ratio, alloy composition,
and type of the light source were studied to optimize the catalytic
activity of the mpg-CN/BP-AgPd nanocomposites in the methanolysis
of AB. The best catalytic activity of mpg-CN/BP-AgPd nanocomposites
was obtained using an mpg-CN/BP ratio of 5/1 (wt/wt) and Ag50Pd50 alloy composition under the blue LED illumination
at room temperature. The activity of the ternary nanocomposites was
further enhanced by the acetic acid treatment, and a high initial
turnover frequency of 43.7 mol(H2) mol(catalyst)−1 min–1 was reported. Besides their high catalytic
activity, the mpg-CN/BP-AgPd nanocomposites were reusable catalysts
in the methanolysis of AB. This study also included detailed kinetics
of AB methanolysis catalyzed by mpg-CN/BP-AgPd nanocomposites.
We report for the first time the employment of black phosphorus (BP) as a metal free, visible-light-active and reusable heterogeneous photoredox catalyst for the direct C–H arylation of heteroarenes (furan and thiophene) with aryl diazonium salts.
Nanocomposites of semiconducting two‐dimensional (2D) materials provide advantageous for combating bacterial infections to overcome antibiotic resistance. In this study, the nanocomposites of 2D black phoshorus (BP) and silver nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared by anchoring as‐synthesized Ag NPs on few‐layer BP nanosheets via liquid self‐assembly method and used as a NIR‐light‐driven antibacterial agent against Gram‐negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa), and Gram‐positive bacteria (Enterococcus faecalis and Bacillus cereus). The BP/Ag nanocomposites showed excellent photothermal effect and oxidative stress ability to inhibit the initial logarithmic growth phase of E. faecalis and B. cereus. According to the bacterial growth curve, agar plate assay and live/dead viability test, as‐synthesized BP/Ag nanocomposites were found to be more effective antibacterial agent for Gram‐positive bacteria than Gram‐negative bacteria. The presented NIR‐light‐driven BP‐based nanoplatform can open a new avenue for avoiding bacterial resistance and combating pathogenic bacteria and also broad‐spectrum disinfection applications.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.