A near-infrared light-mediated antimicrobial based on Ag/Ti<sub>3</sub>C<sub>2</sub>T<sub>x</sub>for effective synergetic antibacterial applications
Xiaoquan Zhu, Yingnan Zhu, Ke Jia, Bahreselam Sielu Abraha, Yang Li, Wenchao Peng, Fengbao Zhang, Xiaobin Fan, Lei Zhang
Abstract
Designing antimicrobials with high efficiency and long-term antibacterial activity is an imperative issue. We found that the antimicrobial effect of Ti3C2Tx and Ag/Ti3C2Tx could be significantly strengthened upon near-infrared light exposure. The synergistic antibacterial mode of the photothermal bactericidal effect and intrinsic bacterial activity have been revealed, which confirms that the Ti3C2Tx MXene is an excellent near-infrared light-mediated nanoplatform for antibacterial applications. To further test the antibacterial effect in practical applications, Ag/Ti3C2Tx embedded hydrogels were used as wound dressings in a wound model experiment. They exhibit outstanding bacterial inhibition and wound healing performance with near-infrared light exposure. This work inspires us to explore the MXene-based photothermal platform in terms of antibacterial application.