Graphene-Based Antibacterial Paper

Abstract

Graphene is a monolayer of tightly packed carbon atoms that possesses many interesting properties and has numerous exciting applications. In this work, we report the antibacterial activity of two waterdispersible graphene derivatives, graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanosheets. Such graphene-based nanomaterials can effectively inhibit the growth of E. coli bacteria while showing minimal cytotoxicity. We have also demonstrated that macroscopic freestanding GO and rGO paper can be conveniently fabricated from their suspension via simple vacuum filtration. Given the superior antibacterial effect of GO and the fact that GO can be mass-produced and easily processed to make freestanding and flexible paper with low cost, we expect this new carbon nanomaterial may find important environmental and clinical applications.

Graphene oxide adsorption enhanced by in situ reduction with sodium hydrosulfite to remove acridine orange from aqueous solution

“…On the other hand, an oxygenation/reduction process confers on GO features that not only are relevant for applications in electrochemistry, such as hybrid materials [16], ultra-capacitors [3,17], transparent/conducting film [10,15,[18][19][20][21], battery electrodes [22], and sensors [23][24][25], but that also carry potential in the bioengineering arena. Hu et al reported that graphene-based 4 materials, i.e., GO or reduced GO paper, showed an excellent inhibitory effect on bacterial growth with mild cytotoxicity [26]. Very recently, Gao et al [27] developed a surface-modified GO mixed with sand for engineered water purification.…”

Environmental applications using graphene composites: water remediation and gas adsorption

“…Multiple recent studies have focused on the use of graphene and graphene composites in biomedical applications. 133,[228][229][230][231] From these studies, as well as other cytotoxicity studies on graphene and related compounds, 69,232-251 we are able to draw some conclusions regarding graphene's biological toxicity.…”

“…GO has the benet of being biocompatible 132 as well as exhibiting anti-bacterial properties. 133 These properties allow the material to be applied to the remediation of biological pollutants (see Section 4). Liu et al have developed a water-toluene two-phase process for self-assembling TiO 2 nanorods on GO sheets.…”

“…133,232 Akhavan et al showed that the bacterial inactivation was caused by direct contact of the bacteria with the extremely sharp edges of the nanosheets which results in cell membrane damage. This mechanism of bacterial inactivation therefore allows E. coli to be more resistant to graphene materials compared to S. aureus, due to its outer cell membrane.…”

Nanotechnology in agriculture, livestock, and aquaculture in China. A review

“…Nanomaterials may cause cell structure damage, decrease survival rate, break DNA chains, and eventually lead to cell apoptosis (Hu et al 2010;Heinlaan et al 2008;Kim et al 2010;Kang et al 2009). …”