Abstract
Over the past decades, bacterial infections resulting from the misuse of antibiotics have garnered significant attention. Among the alternative antibacterial strategies, photodynamic therapy (PDT) has emerged as a promising non-antibiotic approach. However, persistent bacterial biofilms, particularly those composed of gram-negative bacteria with their protective outer membranes, have exhibited remarkable resilience to PDT. To address this challenge, we have developed an antibacterial composite material, silver nanoparticles coated-copper cysteamine (Cu-Cy-PEG@AgNPs), which demonstrates remarkable antibacterial activity against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Specifically, under UV irradiation, Cu-Cy-PEG@AgNPs achieves a sterilization efficiency of approximately 100% at a low concentration of 25 µg/mL. The incorporation of silver nanoparticles significantly enhances the antibacterial performance of Cu-Cy, effectively eradicating persistent bacterial biofilm infections. Moreover, Cu-Cy-PEG@AgNPs exhibits excellent biocompatibility with L929 cells, indicating its potential for use in relevant applications to combat bacterial infections.