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  3. Molecular Engineering of Laser-Induced Graphene for Potential-Driven Broad-Spectrum Antimicrobial and Antiviral Applications

Molecular Engineering of Laser-Induced Graphene for Potential-Driven Broad-Spectrum Antimicrobial and Antiviral Applications

  • Small. 2021 Dec;17(51):e2102841. doi: 10.1002/smll.202102841.
Meijia Gu 1,  Libei Huang 2,  Zhaoyu Wang 3,  Weihua Guo 2,  Le Cheng 2,  Yuncong Yuan 4,  Zhou Zhou 4,  Liu Hu 4,  Sijie Chen 5,  Chao Shen 4 6,  Ben Zhong Tang 3 7 8,  Ruquan Ye 2 9 10
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Key Laboratory of Combinatorial Biosynthesis and Drug Discovery, Ministry of Education, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430071, China.
  • 2 Department of Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, 999077, China.
  • 3 Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong Branch of Chinese National Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration and Reconstruction and Institute for Advanced Study, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, 999077, China.
  • 4 College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072, China.
  • 5 Ming Wai Lau Center for Reparative Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Sha Tin, Hong Kong, 999077, China.
  • 6 China Center for Type Culture Collection, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072, China.
  • 7 Shenzhen Institute of Molecular Aggregate Science and Engineering, School of Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Longgang District, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518172, China.
  • 8 Center for Aggregation-Induced Emission, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, SCUT-HKUST Joint Research Institute, South China University of Technology, Tianhe Qu, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510640, China.
  • 9 State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, 999077, China.
  • 10 City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518057, China.
PMID: 34672086 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202102841
Abstract

Worldwide, countless deaths have been caused by the coronavirus disease 2019. In addition to the virus variants, an increasing number of fatal Fungal infections have been reported, which further exacerbates the scenario. Therefore, the development of porous surfaces with both Antiviral and antimicrobial capacities is of urgent need. Here, a cost-effective, nontoxic, and metal-free strategy is reported for the surface engineering of laser-induced graphene (LIG). The authors covalently engineer the surface potential of the LIG from -14 to ≈+35 mV (LIG+ ), enabling both high-efficiency antimicrobial and Antiviral performance under mild conditions. Specifically, several candidate Microorganisms of different types, including Escherichia coli, Streptomyces tenebrarius, and Candida albicans, are almost completely inactivated after 10-min solar irradiation. LIG+ also exhibits a strong Antiviral effect against human coronaviruses: 99% HCoV-OC43 and 100% HCoV-229E inactivation are achieved after 20-min treatment. Such enhancement may also be observed against Other types of pathogens that are heat-sensitive and oppositely charged. Besides, the covalent modification strategy alleviates the leaching problem, and the low cytotoxicity of LIG+ makes it advantageous. This study highlights the synergy of surface potential and photothermal effect in the inactivation of pathogens and it provides a direction for designing porous Materials for airborne disease removal and water disinfection.

Keywords

antiviral activities; broad-spectrum antimicrobial efficiency; laser-induced graphene; molecular engineering; quaternary pyridinium cations.

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