Nanostructured Conductive Polypyrrole for Antibacterial Components in Flexible Wearable Devices

Yuzheng Wu; Dezhi Xiao; Pei Liu; Qing Liao; Qingdong Ruan; Chao Huang; Liangliang Liu; Dan Li; Xiaolin Zhang; Wei Li; Kaiwei Tang; Zhengwei Wu; Guomin Wang; Huaiyu Wang; Paul K Chu

doi:10.34133/research.0074

Nanostructured Conductive Polypyrrole for Antibacterial Components in Flexible Wearable Devices

Research (Wash D C). 2023:6:0074. doi: 10.34133/research.0074. Epub 2023 Mar 10.

Authors

Yuzheng Wu¹, Dezhi Xiao¹, Pei Liu¹, Qing Liao², Qingdong Ruan¹, Chao Huang¹, Liangliang Liu¹, Dan Li¹, Xiaolin Zhang¹, Wei Li², Kaiwei Tang¹, Zhengwei Wu³, Guomin Wang^{1

4}, Huaiyu Wang², Paul K Chu¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics, Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
² Center for Human Tissues and Organs Degeneration, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China.
³ School of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
⁴ Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai 200072, China.

Abstract

The power generated by flexible wearable devices (FWDs) is normally insufficient to eradicate bacteria, and many conventional antibacterial strategies are also not suitable for flexible and wearable applications because of the strict mechanical and electrical requirements. Here, polypyrrole (PPy), a conductive polymer with a high mass density, is used to form a nanostructured surface on FWDs for antibacterial purposes. The conductive films with PPy nanorods (PNRs) are found to sterilize 98.2 ± 1.6% of Staphylococcus aureus and 99.6 ± 0.2% of Escherichia coli upon mild electrification (1 V). Bacteria killing stems from membrane stress produced by the PNRs and membrane depolarization caused by electrical neutralization. Additionally, the PNR films exhibit excellent biosafety and electrical stability. The results represent pioneering work in fabricating antibacterial components for FWDs by comprehensively taking into consideration the required conductivity, mechanical properties, and biosafety.