Biofilms formed by pathogenic bacteria show increased resistant to antibiotics because the antibiotic cannot penetrate the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). New ionic liquids (ILs) and deep-eutectic solvents (DES) have been recently developed to disrupt the integrity of the EPS, allowing access to deliver antimicrobial agents to the embedded bacteria. Based upon the tunable nature of the ILs, by varying both the anionic and cationic component, the formulations result in differing physicochemical properties of the material. In addition to the new IL materials themselves exhibiting antibacterial properties, the novel DES materials have been shown to enhance transdermal delivery of dissolved components. All of the IL/DES tested exhibited good to excellent anti-biofilm properties (&gt;99% cell death), however, most of the solvents were rather toxic to the cell lines and/or had poor transdermal penetration properties. In particular, one new material was able to kill &gt;99.999% of the bacteria found within the biofilms after only a brief 2 hour exposure. Further, this same DES exhibited excellent transdermal drug delivery with greater than 25% of the antibiotic found in the epidermis, dermis, or acceptor solution (complete passage), with minimal cellular cytotoxicity. These new materials have potential to defeat many skin infections which lie just below the dermis, and often considered difficult to treat due to their sub-dermal location and biofilm encapsulation.

Design of ionic liquid materials for transdermal delivery and pathogen neutralization

249th National Meeting (2015)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.