Antimicrobial Properties of Polyaniline and Polypyrrole Decorated with Zinc-Doped Copper Oxide Microparticles

Moorthy Maruthapandi; Arumugam Saravanan; John H T Luong; Aharon Gedanken

doi:10.3390/polym12061286

Antimicrobial Properties of Polyaniline and Polypyrrole Decorated with Zinc-Doped Copper Oxide Microparticles

Polymers (Basel). 2020 Jun 4;12(6):1286. doi: 10.3390/polym12061286.

Authors

Moorthy Maruthapandi¹, Arumugam Saravanan¹, John H T Luong², Aharon Gedanken¹

Affiliations

¹ Bar-Ilan Institute for Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, Department of Chemistry, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel.
² School of Chemistry, University College Cork, Cork T12 YN60, Ireland.

Abstract

Polyaniline (PANI) and polypyrrole (PPY) were synthesized by carbon dots (CDs) under UV irradiation and then sonicated together with zinc acetate and copper acetate to form the PANI-Zn@CuO and PPY-Zn@Cu composites. The former consisted of agglomerated spherical particles with diameters of 1-5 µm, whereas the latter displayed irregular stick shapes with similar diameters. The bacterial potency of the composites against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus was enhanced remarkably with Zn doping in the CuO matrix, designated as Zn_0.11Cu_0.89O, at 0.144 mg/mL. The cell death was mainly attributed to the release of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that would severely damage DNA, proteins, and lipids. Bacteria could adhere to neutral surfaces of the composites by van der Waals attractive forces. The binding event disrupted the native surface charge of bacterial cells to induce cell lysis and result in eventual cell death.

Keywords: Escherichia coli; Polypyrrole; Staphylococcus aureus; antimicrobial; polymer composite; zinc-doped copper oxide.