Antibacterial poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene-sulfonate)/agarose nanocomposite hydrogels with thermo-processability and self-healing

Youngsang Ko; Jeonghun Kim; Ho Young Jeong; Goomin Kwon; Dabum Kim; Minhee Ku; Jaemoon Yang; Yusuke Yamauchi; Hae-Yeong Kim; Chanhui Lee; Jungmok You

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.09.026

Antibacterial poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene-sulfonate)/agarose nanocomposite hydrogels with thermo-processability and self-healing

Carbohydr Polym. 2019 Jan 1:203:26-34. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.09.026. Epub 2018 Sep 17.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Plant & Environmental New Resources, Kyung Hee University, 1732 Deogyeong-daero, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do 17104, South Korea.
² School of Chemical Engineering & Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), The University of Queensland, QLD 4072, Australia.
³ Department of Radiology College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, South Korea.
⁴ Institute of Life Sciences and Resources & Department of Food Science and Biotechnology, Kyung Hee University, 1732 Deogyeong-daero, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do 17104, South Korea.
⁵ Department of Plant & Environmental New Resources, Kyung Hee University, 1732 Deogyeong-daero, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do 17104, South Korea. Electronic address: chan521@khu.ac.kr.
⁶ Department of Plant & Environmental New Resources, Kyung Hee University, 1732 Deogyeong-daero, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do 17104, South Korea. Electronic address: jmyou@khu.ac.kr.

PMID: 30318212
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.09.026

Abstract

Recently, Near-infrared (NIR)-induced photothermal killing of pathogenic bacteria has received considerable attention due to the increase in antibiotic resistant bacteria. In this paper, we report a simple aqueous solution-based strategy to construct an effective photothermal nanocomposite composed of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene-sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and agarose with thermo-processability, light triggered self-healing, and excellent antibacterial activity. Our experiments revealed that PEDOT:PSS/agarose was easily coated on both a 2D glass substrate and 3D cotton structure. Additionally, PEDOT:PSS/agarose can be designed into free-standing objects of diverse shape as well as restored through an NIR light-induced self-healing effect after damage. Taking advantage of strong NIR light absorption, PEDOT:PSS/agarose exhibited a sharp temperature increase of 24.5 °C during NIR exposure for 100 s. More importantly, we demonstrated that the temperature increase on PEDOT:PSS/agarose via photothermal conversion resulted in the rapid and effective killing of nearly 100% of the pathogenic bacteria within 2 min of NIR irradiation.

Keywords: Agarose; Antibacterial; Nanocomposite hydrogel; PEDOT:PSS; Photothermal; Self-healing.