AIEgen-Based Nanomaterials for Bacterial Imaging and Antimicrobial Applications: Recent Advances and Perspectives
Zipeng Shen,
Yinzhen Pan,
Dingyuan Yan,
Dong Wang,
Ben Zhong Tang
Affiliations
Zipeng Shen
Center for AIE Research, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Polymer Science and Technology, Guangdong Research Center for Interfacial Engineering of Functional Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
Yinzhen Pan
Center for AIE Research, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Polymer Science and Technology, Guangdong Research Center for Interfacial Engineering of Functional Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
Dingyuan Yan
Center for AIE Research, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Polymer Science and Technology, Guangdong Research Center for Interfacial Engineering of Functional Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
Dong Wang
Center for AIE Research, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Polymer Science and Technology, Guangdong Research Center for Interfacial Engineering of Functional Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
Ben Zhong Tang
Shenzhen Institute of Molecular Aggregate Science and Engineering, School of Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen 518172, China
Microbial infections have always been a thorny problem. Multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacterial infections rendered the antibiotics commonly used in clinical treatment helpless. Nanomaterials based on aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens) recently made great progress in the fight against microbial infections. As a family of photosensitive antimicrobial materials, AIEgens enable the fluorescent tracing of microorganisms and the production of reactive oxygen (ROS) and/or heat upon light irradiation for photodynamic and photothermal treatments targeting microorganisms. The novel nanomaterials constructed by combining polymers, antibiotics, metal complexes, peptides, and other materials retain the excellent antimicrobial properties of AIEgens while giving other materials excellent properties, further enhancing the antimicrobial effect of the material. This paper reviews the research progress of AIEgen-based nanomaterials in the field of antimicrobial activity, focusing on the materials’ preparation and their related antimicrobial strategies. Finally, it concludes with an outlook on some of the problems and challenges still facing the field.
