High Aspect Ratio Nanostructures Kill Bacteria via Storage and Release of Mechanical Energy.

The threat of a global rise in the number of untreatable infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria calls for the design and fabrication of a new generation of bactericidal materials. Here, we report a concept for the design of antibacterial surfaces, whereby cell death results from the ability of the nanofeatures to deflect when in contact with attaching cells. We show, using three-dimensional transmission electron microscopy, that the exceptionally high aspect ratio (100-3000) of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VACNTs) imparts extreme flexibility, which enhances the elastic energy storage in CNTs as they bend in contact with bacteria. Our experimental and theoretical analyses demonstrate that, for high aspect ratio structures, the bending energy stored in the CNTs is a substantial factor for the physical rupturing of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The highest bactericidal rates (99.3% for Pseudomonas aeruginosa and 84.9% for Staphylococcus aureus) were obtained by modifying the length of the VACNTs, allowing us to identify the optimal substratum properties to kill different types of bacteria efficiently. This work highlights that the bactericidal activity of high aspect ratio nanofeatures can outperform both natural bactericidal surfaces and other synthetic nanostructured multifunctional surfaces reported in previous studies. The present systems exhibit the highest bactericidal activity of a CNT-based substratum against a Gram-negative bacterium reported to date, suggesting the possibility of achieving close to 100% bacterial inactivation on VACNT-based substrata.

Growth and current production of mixed culture anodic biofilms remain unaffected by sub-microscale surface roughness.

Bioelectrochemical systems couple electricity demand/supply to the metabolic redox reactions of microorganisms. Generally, electrodes act not only as electron acceptors/donors, but also as physical support for an electroactive biofilm. The microorganism-electrode interface can be modified by changing the chemical and/or topographical features of the electrode surface. Thus far, studies have reported conflicting results on the impact of the electrode surface roughness on the growth and current production of biofilms. Here, the surface roughness of the glassy carbon electrodes was successfully modified at the sub-microscale using micro electrodischarge machining, while preserving the surface chemistry of the parent glassy carbon. All microbial electrodes showed similar startup time, maximum current density, charge transport ability across the biofilm and biomass production. Interestingly, an increase in the average surface cavity depth was observed for the biofilm top layer as a function of the electrode surface roughness (from 7 µm to 16 µm for a surface roughness of 5 nm to 682 nm, respectively). These results indicated that the surface roughness at a sub-microscale does not significantly impact the attachment or current production of mixed culture anodic biofilms on glassy carbon. Likely earlier observations were associated with changes in surface chemistry, rather than surface topography.