Do CVD grown graphene films have antibacterial activity on metallic substrates?

Abstract

Accurate assessment of the antibacterial activity of graphene requires consideration of both the graphene fabrication method and, for supported films, the properties of the substrate.Large-area graphene films produced by chemical vapor deposition were grown directly on copper substrates or transferred on a gold substrate and their effect on the viability and proliferation of the Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and the Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli were assessed. The viability and the proliferation of both bacterial species were not affected when they were grown on a graphene film entirely covering the gold substrate, indicating that conductivity plays no role on bacterial viability and graphene has no antibacterial activity against S. aureus and E. coli. On the other hand, antibacterial activity * Corresponding author : Email address : louis.dellieu@unamur.be (L. Dellieu) FAX : +32 81 72 44 64 2 was observed when graphene coated the copper substrates, resulting from the release of bactericidal cupric ions in inverse proportion to the graphene surface coverage.

Two‐Dimensional Materials for Antimicrobial Applications: Graphene Materials and Beyond

“…However, in a later report, Dellieu et al. ruled out the electron‐transfer model as a mechanism to explain the presumed antibacterial activity of CVD graphene films . They found that graphene films that entirely covered Cu or Au substrates showed negligible antibacterial activity against S. aureus and E. coli , whereas a Cu substrate with a partial coverage of graphene slightly inhibited the growth of bacteria and bare Cu completely suppressed the growth of these microorganisms, which is ascribed to the release of bactericidal Cu 2+ .…”

“…However, in al ater report, Dellieu et al ruled out the electron-transfer modela samechanism to explain the presumed antibacterial activity of CVD graphene films. [47] They found that graphene films that entirely covered Cu or Au substrates showedn egligible antibacterial activity against S. aureus and E. coli,w hereas aC us ubstrate with ap artial coverage of graphene slightly inhibited the growth of bacteria and bare Cu completely suppressed the growth of these microorganisms, which is ascribed to the release of bactericidal Cu 2 + .I na ddition to graphene-film-coateds urfaces, the antibacterialp erformance of GO film-coateds ubstrates hasa lso been investigated. For example, in av ery recent report, Panda et al demonstrated that electron transfer affects the antibacterial properties of shellac-derived GO films on different substrates.…”

Graphene/SiO2 nanocomposites: The enhancement of photocatalytic and biomedical activity of SiO2 nanoparticles by graphene

“…[57][58][59] Several research reports are available, documenting the possible mechanisms for growth inhibition of bacterial strains by carbon nano tubes, fullerenes, and graphene family nanostructures. [60][61][62][63][64][65] But the exact mechanism explaining the loss of bacterial integrity is still a researchable topic.…”

Synthesis, Characterization, and Bactericidal Evaluation of Chitosan/Guanidine Functionalized Graphene Oxide Composites

“…The antibacterial activity of graphene-family materials and their hybrid materials have been widely studied in recent year [ 23 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ]. Different antibacterial organic compounds and polymers were used to functionalize graphene-family materials in order to enhance the antibacterial activity of the resulting composites.…”