Synthesis and molecular dynamics simulation of CuS@GO–CS hydrogel for enhanced photothermal antibacterial effect

Abstract

Designing antibacterial nanomaterials with outstanding antibacterial effects has great practical significance. In this work, we developed a facile therapy tool that used CuS nanoparticles to modify graphite oxide (GO) sheets to form CuS@GO nanocomposites (NCs). At the same time, molecular dynamics simulation proved that compared with pure GO, the addition of PEG can effectively disperse GO and facilitate the enrichment of CuS on the GO surface. Then, a CuS@GO–CS hydrogel was prepared by electrostatic interaction between the CuS@GO NCs and CS hydrogel and the inherent antibacterial properties of the CS hydrogel were investigated. Meanwhile, the CuS@GO–CS hydrogel showed enhanced photothermal antibacterial properties to effectively prevent the bacteria. In vitro experiments indicated that a CS hydrogel has a certain antibacterial effect on Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli). Moreover, the CuS@GO NCs have excellent photothermal properties, and the CuS@GO NCs loaded into CS hydrogel significantly enhanced the antibacterial efficacy for S. aureus and E. coli under near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation. Taken together, the antibacterial CuS@GO–CS hydrogel with good antibacterial properties offers significant promise as an antibacterial nanomaterial for enhanced photothermal antibacterial therapy.