Copper nanowire embedded hypromellose: An antibacterial nanocomposite film

Microbial Nanotechnology for Precision Nanobiosynthesis: Innovations, Current Opportunities and Future Perspectives for Industrial Sustainability

A new area of biotechnology is nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is an emerging field that aims to develope various substances with nano-dimensions that have utilization in the various sectors of pharmaceuticals, bio prospecting, human activities and biomedical applications. An essential stage in the development of nanotechnology is the creation of nanoparticles. To increase their biological uses, eco-friendly material synthesis processes are becoming increasingly important. Recent years have shown a lot of interest in nanostructured materials due to their beneficial and unique characteristics compared to their polycrystalline counterparts. The fascinating performance of nanomaterials in electronics, optics, and photonics has generated a lot of interest. An eco-friendly approach of creating nanoparticles has emerged in order to get around the drawbacks of conventional techniques. Today, a wide range of nanoparticles have been created by employing various microbes, and their potential in numerous cutting-edge technological fields have been investigated. These particles have well-defined chemical compositions, sizes, and morphologies. The green production of nanoparticles mostly uses plants and microbes. Hence, the use of microbial nanotechnology in agriculture and plant science is the main emphasis of this review. The present review highlights the methods of biological synthesis of nanoparticles available with a major focus on microbially synthesized nanoparticles, parameters and biochemistry involved. Further, it takes into account the genetic engineering and synthetic biology involved in microbial nanobiosynthesis to the construction of microbial nanofactories.

A Triboelectric Nanocomposite for Sterile Sensing, Energy Harvesting, and Haptic Diagnostics in Interventional Procedures from Surgical Gloves

Advanced interfacial engineering has the potential to enable the successful realization of three features that are particularly important for a variety of healthcare applications: wettability control, antimicrobial activity to reduce infection risks, and sensing of physiological parameters. Here, a sprayable multifunctional triboelectric coating is exploited as a nontoxic, ultrathin tactile sensor that can be integrated directly on the fingertips of surgical gloves. The coating is based on a polymer blend mixed with zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles, which enables antifouling and antibacterial properties. Additionally, the nanocomposite is superhydrophobic (self-cleaning) and is not cytotoxic. The coating is also triboelectric and can be applied directly onto surgical gloves with printed electrodes. The sensorized gloves so obtained enable mechanical energy harvesting, force sensing, and detection of materials stiffness changes directly from fingertip, which may complement proprioceptive feedback for clinicians. Just as importantly, the sensors also work with a second glove on top offering better reassurance regarding sterility in interventional procedures. As a case study of clinical use for stiffness detection, the sensors demonstrate successful detection of pig anal sphincter injury ex vivo. This may lead to improving the accuracy of diagnosing obstetric anal sphincter injury, resulting in prompt repair, fewer complications, and improved quality of life.

Metal-Polymer Nanocomposites: A Promising Approach to Antibacterial Materials

There has been a new approach in the development of antibacterials in order to enhance the antibacterial potential. The nanoparticles are tagged on to the surface of other metals or metal oxides and polymers to achieve nanocomposites. These have shown significant antibacterial properties when compared to nanoparticles. In this article we explore the antibacterial potentials of metal-based and metal-polymer-based nanocomposites, various techniques which are involved in the synthesis of the metal-polymer, nanocomposites, mechanisms of action, and their advantages, disadvantages, and applications.

E-Textile by Printing an All-through Penetrating Copper Complex Ink

Wearable electronics is an emerging field in academics and industry, in which electronic devices, such as smartwatches and sensors, are printed or embedded within textiles. The electrical circuits in electronics textile (e-textile) should withstand many cycles of bending and stretching. Direct printing of conductive inks enables the patterning of electrical circuits; however, while using conventional nanoparticle-based inks, printing onto the fabric results in a thin layer of a conductor, which is not sufficiently robust and impairs the reliability required for practical applications. Here, we present a new process for fabricating robust stretchable e-textile using a thermodynamically stable, solution-based copper complex ink, which is capable of full penetrating the fabric. After printing on knitted stretchable fabrics, they were heated, and the complex underwent an intermolecular self-reduction reaction. The continuously formed metallic copper was used as a seed layer for electroless plating (EP) to form highly conductive circuits. It was found that the stretching direction has a significant role in resistivity. This new approach enables fabricating e-textiles with high stretchability and durability, as demonstrated for wearable gloves, toward printing functional e-textile.

Colorful Conductive Threads for Wearable Electronics: Transparent Cu-Ag Nanonets

Electronic textiles have been regarded as the basic building blocks for constructing a new generation of wearable electronics. However, the electronization of textiles often changes their original properties such as color, softness, glossiness, or flexibility. Here a rapid room-temperature fabrication method toward conductive colorful threads and fabrics with Ag-coated Cu (Cu-Ag) nanonets is demonstrated. Cu-Ag core-shell nanowires are produced through a one-pot synthesis followed by electroless deposition. According to the balance of draining and entraining forces, a fast dip-withdraw process in a volatile solution is developed to tightly wrap Cu-Ag nanonets onto the fibers of thread. The modified threads are not only conductive, but they also retain their original features with enhanced mechanical stability and dry-wash durability. Furthermore, various e-textile devices are fabricated such as a fabric heater, touch screen gloves, a wearable real-time temperature sensor, and warm fabrics against infrared thermal dissipation. These high quality and colorful conductive textiles will provide powerful materials for promoting next-generation applications in wearable electronics.

EGCG-coated silver nanoparticles self-assemble with selenium nanowires for treatment of drug-resistant bacterial infections by generating ROS and disrupting biofilms

Bacterial infections pose a serious threat to human health, and the development of new antibiotics has not kept pace with the development of bacterial resistance. Therefore, there is an urgent need to design antibiotic-like nano-formulations that break through bacterial resistance mechanisms. In this work, we successfully synthesized a safe and effective antibacterial nano-formulation of Se@Ag@EGCG by self-assembly of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG)-coated silver nanoparticles (Ag) on the surface of selenium nanowires (Se). Thein vitrobacteriostatic results showed that 40μg ml^-1Se@Ag@EGCG had significant antibacterial activity against drug-resistantStaphylococcus aureus(S. aureus) andEscherichia coli(E. coli) by destroying the formation of bacterial biofilm, promoting the production of high concentration reactive oxygen species and destroying bacterial cell wall. In addition, the results ofin vivoantibacterial experiments showed that subcutaneous administration of 10 mg kg^-1of Se@Ag@EGCG could promote wound healing by reducing apoptosis and inflammatory responses in infected wounds. It is worth mentioning that the reduced and modified Se@Ag@EGCG by this natural product has negligiblein vivotoxicity. This development strategy of nano-antibacterial materials, which breaks through the drug resistance mechanism, provides new ideas for the development of drugs for drug-resistant bacterial infections.