Matrine@chitosan-D-proline nanocapsules as antifouling agents with antibacterial properties and biofilm dispersibility in the marine environment

Xiangping Hao; Weilu Yan; Jingzhi Yang; Yun Bai; Hongchang Qian; Yuntian Lou; Pengfei Ju; Dawei Zhang

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.950039

Matrine@chitosan-D-proline nanocapsules as antifouling agents with antibacterial properties and biofilm dispersibility in the marine environment

Front Microbiol. 2022 Jul 22:13:950039. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.950039. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Xiangping Hao^{1

2}, Weilu Yan¹, Jingzhi Yang¹, Yun Bai¹, Hongchang Qian^{1

2}, Yuntian Lou^{1

2}, Pengfei Ju³, Dawei Zhang^{1

2

4}

Affiliations

¹ National Materials Corrosion and Protection Data Center, Institute for Advanced Materials and Technology, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, China.
² Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Southeast Asia Network for Corrosion and Protection, Ministry of Education (MOE), Shunde Graduate School of University of Science and Technology Beijing, Foshan, China.
³ Shanghai Aerospace Equipment Manufacturer, Shanghai, China.
⁴ Beijing Advanced Innovationation Center for Materials Genome Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Antifoulants are the most vital substances in antifouling coatings to prevent marine organisms from colonizing the undersea substrate surfaces. In addition to antibacterial performance, inhibition of biofilm formation is an important criterion for antifouling coatings. In this study, we synthesized pH-responsive matrine@chitosan-D-proline (Mat@CS-Pro) nanocapsules of about 280 nm with antibacterial properties and biofilm dispersibility. The prepared Mat@CS-Pro nanocapsules exhibited high-level antibacterial properties, reaching about 93, 88, and 96% for E. coli, S. aureus, and P. aeruginosa, respectively. Such nanocapsules can cause irreversible damage to bacteria and cause them to lose their intact cell structures. Moreover, Mat@CS-Pro nanocapsules also possessed outstanding dispersal biofilm performances, in which the biofilm thickness of E. coli, S. aureus, and P. aeruginosa was decreased by 33, 74, and 42%, respectively, after 3 days of incubation. Besides, the Mat@CS-Pro nanocapsules had remarkable pH-responsive properties. As the environmental pH became acidic, the nanocapsules swelled to about 475 nm and the released concentration could reach 28.5 ppm after immersion for 10 h but maintained a low releasing rate in pH 8 conditions.

Keywords: D-proline; antibacterial; antifouling coatings; biofilm dispersal; marine environment; matrine; pH-responsive.