A Nanohook-Equipped Bionanocatalyst for Localized Near-Infrared-Enhanced Catalytic Bacterial Disinfection

Novel bionanocatalysts have opened a new era in fighting multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria. They can kill bacteria by elevating the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the presence of chemicals like H2O2. However, ROSs' ultrashort diffusion distance limit their bactericidal activity. We present a nanohook-equipped bionanocatalyst (Ni@Co-NC) with bacterial binding ability that shows robust ROS-generating capacity under physiological H2O2 levels. The Ni@Co-NC's pH-dependent performance confines its effects to the biofilm microenvironment, leaving healthy tissue unaffected. Furthermore, it can generate heat upon NIR laser irradiation, enhancing its catalytic performance while achieving heat ablation against bacteria. With the Ni@Co-NC's synergistic effects, bacterial populations fall by >99.99 %. More surprisingly, the mature biofilm shows no recurrence after treatment with the Ni@Co-NC, demonstrating its tremendous potential for treating MDR bacterial related infections.

Automated summary

Novel bionanocatalysts with bacterial binding ability and high ROS-generating capacity have been developed. They can selectively kill multidrug-resistant bacteria while leaving healthy tissue unaffected. Additionally, they can enhance their catalytic performance through heat and NIR laser irradiation, achieving effective ablation against bacteria. The treated bacterial populations show a significant reduction, and mature biofilms do not recur.