Molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) is a novel and promising two-dimensional(2D) nanomaterial for the development of antimicrobial surfaces due to its excellent antibacterial properties. Here, we investigated size dependency of antimicrobial activities using the Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli with chemically exfoliated MoS2 nanosheets (ce-MoS2 NSs). With decreasing the ce-MoS2 size, enhanced antibacterial properties were shown in suspension, with the same trend as for ce-MoS2 surfaces. Our application potential of utilizing ce-MoS2 antimicrobial property for controlling membrane antibiofouling is demonstrated by showing 96.23% bacterial inhibition rate with the smallest size of ce-MoS2 surfaces. Antibacterial activities and oxidative stress of ce-MoS2 NS were also evaluated under different pH to assess the mechanism. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation was significantly affected by pH in ce-MoS2 suspension. However, antimicrobial activities did not vary under different pH, suggesting physical damage might a more significant role than chemical damage in antimicrobial process with ce-MoS2. Our work not only demonstrate the mechanism of antibacterial properties of ce-MoS2, but also significantly open up the possibilities for applications of controlling membrane biofouling and have important implications for the design of novel 2D antimicrobial materials.

Size-dependent antimicrobial activities of chemically exfoliated MoS2 nanosheets coated membrane surfaces

255th National Meeting (2018)

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