Coordination-Driven in Situ Grown Copper Peroxide in Mesoporous Dopamine with Self-Supplied H₂O₂ for Synergistic Enhanced PTT/CDT Antibacterial Treatment and Wound Healing

Abstract

As antibiotic resistance increases, alternative antimicrobial methods become essential. Chemical dynamics therapy (CDT) utilizing copper peroxide (CuO 2 ) nanodots shows significant potential in antibacterial applications due to its ability to self-supply hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) on its own. This characteristic effectively addresses the challenges of low H 2 O 2 levels and high glutathione (GSH) expression in the bacterial infection microenvironment. However, its tendency to aggregate and instability greatly affect its effectiveness. Therefore, this study developed a coordination-driven strategy to prepare copper peroxide-loaded mesoporous polydopamine nanomaterials (CuO 2 @MPDA) through in situ growth of CuO 2 in mesoporous polydopamine utilizing the chelating interaction between amino and catechol structures of MPDA with copper ions. This strategy not only ensures that copper peroxide is evenly distributed within the pores of mesoporous polydopamine but also protects it through the shielding effect of pores, greatly enhancing its dispersibility and stability. More notably, the loading of CuO 2 enhances the photothermal performance of MPDA by broadening its light absorption range, and MPDA-mediated photothermal therapy (PTT) can accelerate CuO 2 to produce more hydroxyl radicals by speeding up chemical reactions, resulting in a combined boost in PTT and CDT. The developed CuO 2 @MPDA nanomaterials at very low concentrations exhibit improved antibacterial efficiency both in vitro and in vivo. Overall, this study provides an innovative strategy to construct an antibacterial nanoplatform for synergistically enhanced PTT/CDT dual-mode antibacterial treatment, exhibiting great potential for future biomedical applications.