Two new photoactive materials have been prepared, characterized and tested against Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria (planktonic suspension). The synthesis of the polymeric photosensitizers can be made at a multigram scale, in few minutes, starting from inexpensive and readily available materials, such as Rose Bengal (photosensitizer) and ion exchange resins Amberlite® IRA 900 (macroporous) or IRA 400 (gel-type) as cationic polystyrene supports. The most notable feature of these systems is their notable bactericidal activity in the dark (4-5 log10 CFU/mL reduction of the population of P. aeruginosa) which becomes enhanced upon irradiation with visible light (to reach a total reduction of 8 log10 CFU/mL for the macroporous polymer at a fluence of 120 J/cm2 using green light of 515 nm).
Keywords: Antimicrobial photodynamic inactivation; Bactericidal materials; Photosensitizers; Rose Bengal; Singlet oxygen.
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