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Silver nanoparticles-decorated and mesoporous silica coated single-walled carbon nanotubes with an enhanced antibacterial activity for killing drug-resistant bacteria

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Abstract

The mounting threat of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections has made it imperative to develop innovative antibacterial strategies. Here we propose a novel antibacterial nanoplatform of silver nanoparticles-decorated and mesoporous silica coated single-walled carbon nanotubes constructed via a N-[3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl]ethylene diamine (TSD)-mediated method (SWCNTs@mSiO2-TSD@Ag). In this system, the outer mesoporous silica shells are able to improve the dispersibility of SWCNTs, which will increase their contact area with bacteria cell walls. Meanwhile, the large number of mesopores in silica layers act as microreactors for in situ synthesis of Ag NPs with controlled small size and uniform distribution, which induces an enhanced antibacterial activity. Compared with TSD modified mesoporous silica coated single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs@mSiO2-TSD) and commercial Ag NPs, this combination nanosystem of SWCNTs@mSiO2-TSD@Ag exhibits much stronger antibacterial performance against multi-drug-resistant bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) in vitro through damaging the bacterial cell membranes and a fast release of silver ions. Furthermore, the in vivo rat skin infection model verifies that SWCNTs@mSiO2-TSD@Ag have remarkably improved abilities of bacterial clearance, wound healing promoting as well as outstanding biocompatibility. Therefore, this novel nanoplatform indicates promising potentials as a safe and powerful tool for the treatment of clinical drug-resistant infections.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51802192, 81802156, and 81772338), the Interdisciplinary Program of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (No. YG2017ZD05), Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai (No. 19ZR1474800), Shanghai Sailing Program (No. 18YF1410700), and Innovation Research Plan supported by Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (No. ZXWF082101). The authors would like to acknowledge the Instrumental Analysis Center of Shanghai Jiao Tong University for the characterization of materials, and Juanxi Gu of Shanghai Jiao Tong University for her graphic assistance.

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    1. Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People’s Hospital, School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200030, China

      Yu Zhu, Jia Xu, Yanmao Wang, Cang Chen, Hongchen Gu, Yimin Chai & Yao Wang

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    1. Yu Zhu
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    2. Jia Xu
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    3. Yanmao Wang
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    Correspondence to Yimin Chai or Yao Wang.

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    Silver nanoparticles-decorated and mesoporous silica coated single-walled carbon nanotubes with an enhanced antibacterial activity for killing drug-resistant bacteria

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    Zhu, Y., Xu, J., Wang, Y. et al. Silver nanoparticles-decorated and mesoporous silica coated single-walled carbon nanotubes with an enhanced antibacterial activity for killing drug-resistant bacteria. Nano Res. 13, 389–400 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-020-2621-3

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