Suppressing Bacterial Interaction with Copper Surfaces through Graphene and Hexagonal-Boron Nitride Coatings

Abstract

Understanding biological interaction with graphene and hexagonal-boron nitride (h-BN) membranes has become essential for the incorporation of these unique materials in contact with living organisms. Previous reports show contradictions regarding the bacterial interaction with graphene sheets on metals. Here, we present a comprehensive study of the interaction of bacteria with copper substrates coated with single-layer graphene and h-BN. Our results demonstrate that such graphitic coatings substantially suppress interaction between bacteria and underlying Cu substrates, acting as an effective barrier to prevent physical contact. Bacteria do not "feel" the strong antibacterial effect of Cu, and the substrate does not suffer biocorrosion due to bacteria contact. Effectiveness of these systems as barriers can be understood in terms of graphene and h-BN impermeability to transfer Cu(2+) ions, even when graphene and h-BN domain boundary defects are present. Our results seem to indicate that as-grown graphene and h-BN films could successfully protect metals, preventing their corrosion in biological and medical applications.

Zinc Oxide Nanorods-Decorated Graphene Nanoplatelets: A Promising Antimicrobial Agent against the Cariogenic Bacterium Streptococcus mutans

“…Single and few-layer graphene coatings on SiO 2 substrates were demonstrated to inhibit the bacterial adhesion [52]. Recently, it has been reported that E. coli cells treated with ZnO nanoparticles showed a strikingly high mortality rate of the cells due to a remarkable reduction in bacterial EPS, demonstrating that EPS can protect bacteria through sequestering nanoparticles [53].…”

Boron nitride nanomaterials: biocompatibility and bio-applications

“…From these observations, it can be concluded that BNNTs do not seem to have inherent bactericidal effect, and any antibacterial activity observed was due to the coating. By contrast, according to the research conducted by Parra et al, 79 hexagonal BN could be used to prevent the biocorrosion of copper substrates by Escherichia coli. After 24 hours of incubation with BN coated copper sample, bacteria viability came up to 118%, indicating that not only the BN itself does not seem to have any inherent antibacterial ability, but also that it would prevent harming copper ions to interact with the bacteria deposited on the surface.…”

Toxicity evaluation of boron nitride nanospheres and water-soluble boron nitride in <em>Caenorhabditis elegans</em>

“…1 Among these ENMs, boron nitride (BN) NMs (also known as "white graphene") 2 with a structure analogous to carbon NMs have been studied for drug delivery, tissue regeneration, and fluorescent-cell imaging. [3][4][5] Hydrophobic BN nanospheres (BNNSs) and highly water-soluble BN powder (BN-800-2) with irregular shapes are two representative forms of BN NMs. BNNSs can be utilized to deliver cytosine-phosphate-guanine oligonucleotides and peptides into lysosomes after cellular uptake; [6][7][8] similarly, BN-800-2 with high surface area and loading capacity also possesses the potential of being a drug-delivery vehicle.…”