Graphene combines with drugs to kill bacteria

Bacterial infections associated with medical implants have brought a huge burden to medical care, and also brought huge pain to patients all over the world

"Through our research, we successfully combined water-insoluble antibacterial molecules with graphene, and released the molecules from the material in a controlled and continuous manner," Chalmers University Biological and Bioengineering Santosh Pandit, a researcher in the department, said he was also the first author of the study, which was recently published in Scientific Reports

"This is the basic requirement for this method to work

Certain bacteria can form an impenetrable surface or "biofilm" on surgical implants (such as dental and other orthopedic implants), which is a major problem in global healthcare

There are a variety of water-insoluble or hydrophobic drugs and molecules that can be used for its antibacterial properties

"Graphene offers great potential in interacting with hydrophobic molecules or drugs, and when we created our new materials, we took advantage of these properties

In this study, the graphene material was covered with sonic acid, which is extracted from lichens, such as fructan lichens

Usnic acid tested its resistance to the pathogenic bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis, which are common causes of biofilm formation in medical implants

"More importantly, our results show that the method of combining hydrophobic molecules with graphene is very simple

The sustained release of usnic acid from the graphene coating ensures long-term antibiotic film protection

The research project was led by Professor Ivan Mijakovic from the Department of Biology and Biotechnology at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden

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Article title

Sustained release of usnic acid from graphene coatings ensures long term antibiotic film protection