Electropolymerizations of two novelEDOT‐BODIPYzincoxide nanocomposites andevaluation of their in vitro antibacterial activities

Abstract

Boron containing materials as novel classes of antibacterial agents have been widely used in coating or medical applications due to their excellent functionality against microorganisms. In this study, two different boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY)/zinc oxide based P(M1‐co‐Edot)/ZnO and P(M2‐co‐Edot)/ZnO nanocomposite copolymer materials were prepared. The BODIPY/ZnO nanocomposite films were synthesized using potentiostat. ZnO nanoparticles were used to increase the strength and conductivity of the obtained semiconducting materials. Spectroelectrochemical analysis show that the copolymers, P(M1‐co‐Edot)/ZnO and P(M2‐co‐Edot)/ZnO, have electronic band gaps at 1.56 and 2.51 eV and optical band gaps at 2.11 and 2.00 eV, respectively. The synthesized nanocomposite films were characterized by Raman, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and FT‐IR spectroscopies. The optical properties of the synthesized monomers and their nanocomposite copolymers were demonstrated using UV‐Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy. SEM and AFM images show the surface morphologies of nanocomposite copolymer films and surface roughness of P(M1‐co‐Edot)/ZnO and P(M2‐co‐Edot)/ZnO were calculated as Ra = 84.6 nm Rq = 106 nm and 120 nm, respectively. Antibacterial activities of the obtained nanocomposite films prepared in ultrapure water with different concentrations (2.5‐0.25 mg/mL) were discovered against Gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram negative (Escherichia coli) bacteria by using disc diffusion method. The antibacterial activities of obtained films were found to be higher against Gram negative bacteria compared to that of Gram positives. Obtained results show that synthesized nanocomposites with easy production and nontoxic properties can be used as functional bioengineering materials for antibacterial electrochromical materials.