Black phosphorus is effective in killing drug-resistant bacteria and fungi. Photo shows black phosphorus crystals (Alshaer666/Wikipedia)
Drug-resistant bacteria and fungi are now a medical challenge, and many conventional treatments (such as antibiotic therapy) are ineffective against these drug-resistant bacteria. The medical community is also constantly developing new treatments to address this growing challenge.
Scientists have recently discovered a material called black phosphorus that can efficiently kill drug-resistant bacteria. It kills bacteria by oxidizing the surface of bacterial and fungal cells as it breaks down, and during this oxidation process, the bacteria and fungi tear apart and are thus killed.
“Finding a material that can prevent both bacterial and fungal infections is a major advance.” Dr. Aaron Elbourne, a researcher at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Australia, said, “These pathogens pose a huge health burden and it is becoming increasingly difficult for us to treat these infections as drug resistance continues to grow.”
The United Nations, international agencies and relevant experts had jointly released a report on April 29, 2019, saying that drug-resistant diseases could kill 10 million people a year by 2050 if no action is taken.
The new discovery of the germicidal properties of black phosphorus is exciting for scientists.
In studying the material, Elburn and colleagues used thin layers of black phosphorus nano (one nanometer equals one millionth of a millimeter) to test the material’s effectiveness in killing five common strains of bacteria, including E. coli and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and five fungi, including Candida aureus.
In just two hours, up to 99% of the bacterial and fungal cells were destroyed by black phosphorus.
Moreover, during this process, black phosphorus began to degrade itself and was degraded within 24 hours, a property that predicts that black phosphorus will not accumulate in the human body.
Interestingly, the discovery of black phosphorus, a material originally studied for its application in future electronics – energy-efficient transistors – will allow black phosphorus to play an important role in medicine as well.
Sumeet Walia, Ph.D., a researcher at RMIT’s School of Engineering, said, “The property of black phosphorus to decompose under oxygen is a huge problem in electronic devices, and sometimes we have to struggle to overcome these difficulties through meticulous engineering techniques.”
“But it turns out that materials that are easily degraded by oxygen are perfect for killing microbes, which is exactly what scientists working on antimicrobial technology have been looking for. So our puzzle became their solution.”
Figure shows the blocky orthorhombic hexagonal black phosphorus 3d structure with a single layer of phosphorescent or 2D phosphine (Nickclark/Wikipedia)
In addition black phosphorus is a graphite-like phosphorus with a layered crystal structure, which can be mechanically peeled to atomic layer thickness. This also gives it the ability to be one of the thinnest antimicrobial coatings to date, which can be applied to ultra-thin wound dressings or become implants.
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