Highly Efficient Antimicrobial Activity of Cu<i><sub>x</sub></i>Fe<i><sub>y</sub></i>O<i><sub>z</sub></i> Nanoparticles against Important Human Pathogens
Lu Zhu,
David W. Pearson,
Stéphane L. Benoit,
Jing Xie,
Jitendra Pant,
Yanjun Yang,
Arnab Mondal,
Hitesh Handa,
Jane Y. Howe,
Yen-Con Hung,
Jorge E. Vidal,
Robert J. Maier,
Yiping Zhao
Affiliations
Lu Zhu
School of Chemical, Materials and Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
David W. Pearson
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
Stéphane L. Benoit
Department of Microbiology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
Jing Xie
Department of Food Science & Technology, University of Georgia, Griffin, GA 30223, USA
Jitendra Pant
School of Chemical, Materials and Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
Yanjun Yang
School of Chemical, Materials and Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
Arnab Mondal
School of Chemical, Materials and Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
Hitesh Handa
School of Chemical, Materials and Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
Jane Y. Howe
Department of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A1, Canada
Yen-Con Hung
Department of Food Science & Technology, University of Georgia, Griffin, GA 30223, USA
Jorge E. Vidal
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Mississippi, Jackson, MS 39216, USA
Robert J. Maier
Department of Microbiology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
Yiping Zhao
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
The development of innovative antimicrobial materials is crucial in thwarting infectious diseases caused by microbes, as drug-resistant pathogens are increasing in both number and capacity to detoxify the antimicrobial drugs used today. An ideal antimicrobial material should inhibit a wide variety of bacteria in a short period of time, be less or not toxic to normal cells, and the fabrication or synthesis process should be cheap and easy. We report a one-step microwave-assisted hydrothermal synthesis of mixed composite CuxFeyOz (Fe2O3/Cu2O/CuO/CuFe2O) nanoparticles (NPs) as an excellent antimicrobial material. The 1 mg/mL CuxFeyOz NPs with the composition 36% CuFeO2, 28% Cu2O and 36% Fe2O3 have a general antimicrobial activity greater than 5 log reduction within 4 h against nine important human pathogenic bacteria (including drug-resistant bacteria as well as Gram-positive and Gram-negative strains). For example, they induced a >9 log reduction in Escherichia coli B viability after 15 min of incubation, and an ~8 log reduction in multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae after 4 h incubation. Cytotoxicity tests against mouse fibroblast cells showed about 74% viability when exposed to 1 mg/mL CuxFeyOz NPs for 24 h, compared to the 20% viability for 1 mg/mL pure Cu2O NPs synthesized by the same method. These results show that the CuxFeyOz composite NPs are a highly efficient, low-toxicity and cheap antimicrobial material that has promising potential for applications in medical and food safety.
