UC Santa Cruz

Graphene derivatives have been attracting extensive interest as effective antimicrobial agents. In the present study, ternary nanocomposites are prepared based on graphene oxide quantum dots (GOQD), polyaniline (PANI), and manganese oxides. Because of the hydrophilic GOQD and PANI, the resulting GPM nanocomposites are readily dispersible in water and upon photoirradiation at 365 nm exhibit antimicrobial activity toward both Gram-negative Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Gram-positive Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis). Notably, the nanocomposite with a high Mn²⁺ and Mn⁴⁺ content is found to be far more active than that with a predominant Mn³⁺ component, although both samples feature a similar elemental composition and average Mn valence state. The bactericidal activity is largely ascribed to the photocatalytic production of hydroxy radicals and photogenerated holes; both are known to exert oxidative stress on bacterial cells. Further antimicrobial contributions may arise from the strong affinity of the nanocomposites to the cell surfaces. These results suggest that the metal valence state may be a critical parameter in the design and engineering of high-performance antimicrobial agents based on metal oxide nanocomposites.