A near-infrared light-mediated antimicrobial based on Ag/Ti3C2Tx for effective synergetic antibacterial applications.

Designing antimicrobials with high efficiency and long-term antibacterial activity is an imperative issue. We found that the antimicrobial effect of Ti3C2Tx and Ag/Ti3C2Tx could be significantly strengthened upon near-infrared light exposure. The synergistic antibacterial mode of the photothermal bactericidal effect and intrinsic bacterial activity have been revealed, which confirms that the Ti3C2Tx MXene is an excellent near-infrared light-mediated nanoplatform for antibacterial applications. To further test the antibacterial effect in practical applications, Ag/Ti3C2Tx embedded hydrogels were used as wound dressings in a wound model experiment. They exhibit outstanding bacterial inhibition and wound healing performance with near-infrared light exposure. This work inspires us to explore the MXene-based photothermal platform in terms of antibacterial application.