Towards developing potent antimicrobial materials to combat the escalating threat to human health posed by the transmission of pathogenic bacteria that adhere to surfaces, we have investigated the photobactericidal activity of cellulose nanocrystals that have been modified with a porphyrin-derived photosensitizer. In addition to their characterization, the ability of the resulting porphyrin-cellulose nanocrystals, CNC-Por (1 ), to mediate bacterial photodynamic inactivation has been investigated as a function of bacterial strain and illumination time. Despite forming an insoluble suspension, CNC-Por (1)  has shown excellent efficacy toward the photodynamic inactivation of a broad spectrum of bacteria, including Mycobacterium smegmatis, multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (MDRAB), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Further research into alternative materials such as CNC-Por (1 ) may lead to their application in hospitals and healthcare-related industries wherein novel materials with the capability of reducing the rates of transmission of a wide range of bacteria, particularly antibiotic resistant strains, are desired.

Photobactericidal porphyrin-cellulose nanocrystals: Synthesis, characterization, and antimicrobial properties

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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