Graphene-based materials are an attractive template for a broad range of applications due to their unique 2D structure and excellent physiochemical properties, allowing us to address global challenges. A general approach to prepare graphene-based materials is to utilize graphene oxide (GO) which possesses various oxygen functional groups on its basal plane and edge site. Combined with a large surface area and tunable functionality through surface chemistry, GO is a promising material for the design of engineering surfaces. In biomedical and environmental applications, several groups have reported that graphene materials present an antimicrobial effect against a variety of microorganisms, in which it includes controlling the growth of bacteria. Antimicrobial mechanism of graphene materials has not been exactly clarified; however, prevalently the induction of physical damage of the lipid bilayer and the generation of chemically reactive species are considered as a major mechanism. For the chemical mechanism, the reactive species can be produced through the functional groups on graphene materials, which mediates oxidative stress. Among different kinds of graphene materials, only GO has been extensively investigated as an antimicrobial substance; hence, the chemically induced antimicrobial effect was exclusively focused on reactive oxygen species (ROS). In this study, we investigated the antimicrobial effect of graphene materials doped with different reactive elements such as oxygen, sulfur, chlorine, and nitrogen. It allows us to examine the influence of different reactive species on antimicrobial activity of graphene materials, correlating it with oxidative stress. The antimicrobial properties of graphene-coated surface were probed via a direct contact with both Gram-negative and -positive bacterial pathogens, in which the surface-dependent of antimicrobial activity was quantified through the live/dead fluorescence of such bacteria. This analysis can contribute to the development of antimicrobial surface for biomedical and display devices without releasing toxic substances into environment. Further, our study will help to understand the antimicrobial mechanism of graphene materials by evaluating their ROS-independent oxidative stresses with various reactive species.

Surface engineering of graphene materials for advancing antimicrobial performance

256th National Meeting (2018)

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