Ag and Cu Monometallic and Ag/Cu Bimetallic Nanoparticle–Graphene Composites with Enhanced Antibacterial Performance

Abstract

Increased proliferation of antimicrobial resistance and new strains of bacterial pathogens severely impact current health, environmental, and technological developments, demanding design of novel, highly efficient antibacterial agents. Ag, Cu monometallic and Ag/Cu bimetallic nanoparticles (NPs) were in situ grown on the surface of graphene, which was produced by chemical vapor deposition using ferrocene as precursor and further functionalized to introduce oxygen-containing surface groups. The antibacterial performance of the resulting hybrids was evaluated against Escherichia coli cells and compared through a series of parametrization experiments of varying metal type and concentration. It was found that both Ag- and Cu-based monometallic graphene composites significantly suppress bacterial growth, yet the Ag-based ones exhibit higher activity compared to that of their Cu-based counterparts. Compared with well-dispersed colloidal Ag NPs of the same metal concentration, Ag- and Cu-based graphene hybrids display weaker antibacterial activity. However, the bimetallic Ag/CuNP-graphene hybrids exhibit superior performance compared to that of all other materials tested, i.e., both the monometallic graphene structures as well as the colloidal NPs, achieving complete bacterial growth inhibition at all metal concentrations tested. This striking performance is attributed to the synergistic action of the combination of the two different metals that coexist on the surface as well as the enhancing role of the graphene support.

Nanomaterials for alternative antibacterial therapy

“…The biocidal activities of Ag and Cu NPs embedded in polymer matrices have been reported to be enhanced due to release of metal ions while dampening their toxicities. 55,123 Ag nanocomposites have been reported to be biocidal against MRSA. 124 A benign ε-polylysine/Ag nanocomposite demonstrated antibacterial effects against P. aeruginosa and S. aureus that was mediated by surface adherence, irreversible disruption of the membrane with subsequent penetration and inhibition of protein activity, ultimately leading to bacterial apoptosis.…”

Active Chicken Meat Packaging Based on Polylactide Films and Bimetallic Ag–Cu Nanoparticles and Essential Oil

“…The composite materials based on PLA and reinforced with single metal NPs like ZnO, TiO 2 , and Ag have been characterized by numerous researchers (Murariu et al, 2011;Zhuang, Liu, Zhang, Hu, & Shen, 2009). Recently, monometallic NPs (for example, Ag, Cu) have been alloyed to produce bimetallic (Ag/Cu) NPs with improved thermal, optical, interfacial and antimicrobial properties (Perdikaki et al, 2016;Tan & Cheong, 2013. Among the metal NPs, silver-copper (Ag-Cu) nanoalloys showed strong antibacterial activity with low loading concentrations as compared to single metal NPs like Ag or Cu (Taner, Sayar, Yulug, & Suzer, 2011;Zain, Stapley, & Shama, 2014). It has been established that NPs exhibited a strong antimicrobial activity; however, few reports are available on the nanoparticle resistant microorganisms (Scandorieiro et al, 2016;Graves Jr et al, 2015).…”

A novel method to prepare homogeneous biocompatible graphene‐based PDMS composites with enhanced mechanical, thermal and antibacterial properties

“…More specifically, inactivation of S. aureus for the rGOAM (1 wt%)‐PDMS and GOAM (1 wt%)‐PDMS composites reached 79.06 and 88.01%, respectively; the corresponding bacterial viability loss of E. coli for the rGOAM (1 wt%)‐PDMS and GOAM (1 wt%)‐PDMS composites were 67.95 and 82.05%, respectively. In fact, a lot of composites incorporated with graphene or its derivatives for enhanced antibacterial activity have been reported . The observed antibacterial activity of rGOAMs/GOAMs‐PDMS composites might be ascribed to bacterial cellular destruction, wrapping or trapping bacterial membranes and chemical damage .…”