Antibacterial Properties of Graphene-Based Nanomaterials

Abstract

Bacteria mediated infections may cause various acute or chronic illnesses and antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria has become a serious health problem around the world due to their excessive use or misuse. Replacement of existing antibacterial agents with a novel and efficient alternative is the immediate demand to alleviate this problem. Graphene-based materials have been exquisitely studied because of their remarkable bactericidal activity on a wide range of bacteria. Graphene-based materials provide advantages of easy preparation, renewable, unique catalytic properties, and exceptional physical properties such as a large specific surface area and mechanical strength. However, several queries related to the mechanism of action, significance of size and composition toward bacterial activity, toxicity criteria, and other issues are needed to be addressed. This review summarizes the recent efforts that have been made so far toward the development of graphene-based antibacterial materials to face current challenges to combat against the bacterial targets. This review describes the inherent antibacterial activity of graphene-family and recent advances that have been made on graphene-based antibacterial materials covering the functionalization with silver nanoparticles, other metal ions/oxides nanoparticles, polymers, antibiotics, and enzymes along with their multicomponent functionalization. Furthermore, the review describes the biosafety of the graphene-based antibacterial materials. It is hoped that this review will provide valuable current insight and excite new ideas for the further development of safe and efficient graphene-based antibacterial materials.

Graphenic Materials for Biomedical Applications

“…Additionally, this effect can be prevented by the functionalization of the surface of nanomaterials. Detailed information on the possibilities and types of modifications of surfaces of GR, GO, and rGO by metals and/or their oxides, metalloids, natural and synthetic polymers, antibiotics, enzymes, and their behavior as solids and in solution have been described by Kumar et al in their comprehensive review [121].…”

Magnetic Graphene-Based Sheets for Bacteria Capture and Destruction Using a High-Frequency Magnetic Field

“…These results might be due to the higher density of functional groups and surface area of MRGO that could enhance the potential contact and interaction with S. aureus, followed by the settlement of bacteria on the surface of graphene-based materials [30]. From the point of view of antibacterial activity, graphene-based materials could damage or break the cell walls and cell membranes of bacteria through the interaction between the sharp edge of graphene-based materials and membranes of bacteria, causing the stress of the bacteria membrane [22,27,42]. This interaction could induce the leakage of RNA and transfer of charge [26].…”

Synergistic Antibacterial Activity of Silver-Loaded Graphene Oxide towards Staphylococcus Aureus and Escherichia Coli

“…Graphene oxide (GO) and reduced GO contain functional groups and a unique structure of the carbon basal plane, which contribute to its antibacterial activity. Recently, GO-based materials were used to enhance antibacterial performance and showed 88-100% bacterial inhibition at dosages of 100-300 µL mL −1 [6]. GO demonstrated the most powerful antibacterial activity towards Escherichia coli (E. coli) among graphene-based materials [7].…”

“…Tu et al showed that pristine graphene nanosheets reduced E. coli viability by destroying the extraction of phospholipid bacterial membranes [9]. Therefore, GO derivatives are considered to be a new weapon for combatting multidrug resistance bacteria while reducing toxicity to normal human cells [6,10].…”