Rapid eradication of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and biofilms by MXene and near-infrared light through photothermal ablation

Abstract

With the development and rising of antimicrobial resistance, rapid and effective killings of bacteria are urgently needed, especially for antibiotic-resistant bacteria and bacterial biofilms that are usually hard to be treated with conventional antibiotics. Here, a rapid and broad-spectrum antibacterial strategy is demonstrated through photothermal ablation with MXene and light. Ti 3 C 2 MXenes, when combined with 808 nm light, show significant antibacterial effects in just 20 min. The antibacterial strategy is effective to 15 bacterial species tested, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE). In addition, the rapid antibacterial strategy works for MRSA biofilms, by damaging the structures as well as killing bacteria in biofilms. Furthermore, the investigation of the antibacterial mechanisms shows that Ti 3 C 2 with light kills bacteria mainly physically through inserting/contact and photothermal effect. This work broadens the potential applications of MXene and provides a way to eradicate bacteria and biofilms physically, without the likelihood of resistance development.

MXenes: Synthesis, Optical Properties, and Applications in Ultrafast Photonics

“…This temperature is high enough to kill the surrounding tumor cells in vivo and bacterial. [127] This photothermal effect in combination with acoustic detection make MXene nanoflakes have synergistic effects in tumor diagnosis and therapy. Other experiments have also showed that light illumination could induce oxygen stress on the surface of the flakes.…”

Emergent 2D materials for combating infectious diseases: the potential of MXenes and MXene–graphene composites to fight against pandemics

“…Ti 2 CT x MXenes against Sarcina, S. aureus and Bacillus sp. 68 In fact, the proliferation of the bacterial cells was found to be slightly intensified in the vicinity of Ti 2 CT x MXenes and only minor apoptosis of bacterial cells was observed when the cells were positioned between individual sheets of exfoliated 70 Interestingly, this photothermal ablation-based antimicrobial approach was also found to be very effective in eradicating MRSA biofilms. The killing of the bacteria via physical contact and photothermal effect is reported to be the main mode of antimicrobial action in this study.…”

NIR‐Responsive Ti3C2 MXene Colloidal Solution for Curing Purulent Subcutaneous Infection through the “Nanothermal Blade” Effect

“…[20] Xia et al used 125 µg mL −1 Cu 9 S 8 NPs to disrupt biofilms under NIR irradiation, while at 58°C, it can successfully destroy the bacterial structure without toxicity to L929 cells. [31] Hong et al [24] found that the combination of Ti3C2 and NIR irradiation showed a broadspectrum antibacterial effect to 15 bacterial species, including both Grampositive and Gram-negative species. And they confirmed bacterias without treatment or with 20-min light exposure alone still maintained integrity with no bacterial membrane or cell wall destruction.…”

“…The results were consistent with previous studies. [21,24] This could be because the average thickness of the bacteria cell walls was 20−50 nm. [34] The Ti 3 C 2 nanosheets firstly attach onto bacteria membranes,and then NIR irradiation energy absorbed by Ti 3 C 2 increased the temperature of bacterial membrane, causing the outflow of protein and DNA.…”

“…Ti 3 C 2 membranes also showed 99% growth inhibition against these bacteria, [23] promoting their applicability to the wastewater treatment process. Hong et al [24] confirmed that MXenes combined with 808 nm light have rapid and broadspectrum antibacterial activities (15 bacterial species), while their biocompatibilities were not studied. Few studies have focused on pure Ti 3 C 2 in the field of antibacterial biomaterials, the reasons may be that the safe concentration and stability in physiological conditions of Ti 3 C 2 was too low.…”