Recent Advancements on Photothermal Conversion and Antibacterial Applications over MXenes-Based Materials

Abstract

Highlights Fabrication, characterizations and photothermal properties of MXenes are systematically described. Photothermal-derived antibacterial performances and mechanisms of MXenes-based materials are summarized and reviewed. Recent advances in the derivative applications relying on antibacterial properties of MXenes-based materials, including in vitro and in vivo sterilization, solar water evaporation and purification, and flexible antibacterial fabrics, are investigated. Abstract The pernicious bacterial proliferation and emergence of super-resistant bacteria have already posed a great threat to public health, which drives researchers to develop antibiotic-free strategies to eradicate these fierce microbes. Although enormous achievements have already been achieved, it remains an arduous challenge to realize efficient sterilization to cut off the drug resistance generation. Recently, photothermal therapy (PTT) has emerged as a promising solution to efficiently damage the integrity of pathogenic bacteria based on hyperthermia beyond their tolerance. Until now, numerous photothermal agents have been studied for antimicrobial PTT. Among them, MXenes (a type of two-dimensional transition metal carbides or nitrides) are extensively investigated as one of the most promising candidates due to their high aspect ratio, atomic-thin thickness, excellent photothermal performance, low cytotoxicity, and ultrahigh dispersibility in aqueous systems. Besides, the enormous application scenarios using their antibacterial properties can be tailored via elaborated designs of MXenes-based materials. In this review, the synthetic approaches and textural properties of MXenes have been systematically presented first, and then the photothermal properties and sterilization mechanisms using MXenes-based materials are documented. Subsequently, recent progress in diverse fields making use of the photothermal and antibacterial performances of MXenes-based materials are well summarized to reveal the potential applications of these materials for various purposes, including in vitro and in vivo sterilization, solar water evaporation and purification, and flexible antibacterial fabrics. Last but not least, the current challenges and future perspectives are discussed to provide theoretical guidance for the fabrication of efficient antimicrobial systems using MXenes.

Applications of MXene and its modified materials in skin wound repair

“…MXene also has an electrical conductivity close to that of graphene, and can vary between semiconductors and conductors according to the modification of its surface groups, meeting different electrical conductivity requirements of materials ( Yin et al, 2021a ; Riazi et al, 2021 ). The mechanical destruction of bacterial cell membranes by MXene’s two-dimensional lamellar structure and the redox action of lipopolysaccharides by strong anions on cell membranes give MXene excellent antibacterial properties ( Begum et al, 2020 ; Hao et al, 2022 ). In addition, MXene has strong light absorption in the NIR region, which makes MXene also promising in the field of photothermal therapy and imaging ( Yin et al, 2021b ; Jiang et al, 2022 ).…”

Applications of MXenes in human-like sensors and actuators

“…The MXenes have shown great promise in biomedical applications [97,101], including sensing [119][120][121], diagnosis [99], imaging [403], drug delivery [404], and photothermal therapy [405,406]. Besides, the evaluation of biocompatibility [407] and biosafety [408] remains essential before clinic applications. Moreover, the antibacterial performances have been reported by photocatalytic charge transfer mechanism [409,410].…”

Coordination-Induced NIR Photothermal Conversion and Laser Detonation Based on a Quasi-Diamond Interpenetrated Structure

“…Exploration of new photothermal materials especially achieving efficient light-to-heat conversion at visible light even near-infrared (NIR) region has received great attention due to their promising applications. Thus far, although porous carbons, organic polymers, and metal sulfides have been well developed, − novel photothermal materials catering to the rigorous demands for sophisticated applications are still highly desirable. In the past 2 decades, functional coordination polymers (CPs) have made a great progress. − By taking the advantages of the reticular synthesis, ordered crystallinity, and tunable structures, CPs with efficient photothermal conversion performances could be achieved by deliberate designation. − The tetrathiafulvalene, perylenediimide, naphthalenediimide derivatives, and viologen moieties bearing organic ligands have been used in constructing visible especially NIR-type photothermal CPs. − However, such organic linkers usually need comparatively complex organic synthesis.…”