Abstract
Catheter-related infections are a common worldwide health problem, highlighting the need for antimicrobial catheters. Here, antibacterial potential of graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) incorporated in the commonly used polymer for catheter manufacture—polyurethane (PU)—is investigated. Two strategies are explored: melt-blending, producing a composite, and dip coating, where a composite layer is deposited on top of PU. GNP with different lateral sizes and oxidation degrees—GNP-M5, GNP-M15, GNP-M5ox, GNP-M15ox—are applied in both strategies, and the antimicrobial potential towards Staphylococcus epidermidis of GNP dispersions and GNP-containing PU evaluated. As dispersions, oxidized and smaller GNP powders (GNP-M5ox) inhibit 74% bacteria growth at 128 µg/mL. As surfaces, GNP exposure strongly impacts their antimicrobial profile: GNP absence at the surface of composites yields no significant effects on bacteria, while by varying GNP: PU ratio and GNP concentration, coatings enhance GNP exposure, depicting an antimicrobial profile. Oxidized GNP-containing coatings induce higher antibacterial effect than non-oxidized forms, particularly with smaller GNPox, where a homogeneous layer of fused platelets is formed on PU, leading to 70% reduction in bacterial adhesion and 70% bacterial death. This pioneering work unravels how to turn a polymer clinically used to produce catheters into an antimicrobial surface, crucial to reducing risk of infection associated with catheterization.
Highlights
Catheters are medical devices routinely used in patients in different healthcare centers [1]; catheter-related infections (CRI) are a recurrent and threatening problem, especially if progressing to bloodstream infection, the third leading cause of hospital-acquired infections
This work explores the antimicrobial potential of graphene-based materials (GBM), in particular graphene nanoplatelets (GNP), for application on polyurethane (PU) catheters in order to prevent catheter-related infections
X-ray Photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis confirmed GNP oxidation and chemical composition (Figure 1c): non-oxidized GNP presented low oxygen content, with atomic percentage of O 1s being lower than 3%—this small amount of oxygen is associated with GNP preparation process that consists in graphite intercalation and thermal exfoliation, leading to addition of small amounts of oxygen groups mostly at the platelets edges [49]
Summary
Catheters are medical devices routinely used in patients in different healthcare centers [1]; catheter-related infections (CRI) are a recurrent and threatening problem, especially if progressing to bloodstream infection, the third leading cause of hospital-acquired infections. These can cause morbidity, prolonged hospitalizations and death [2], being associated with elevated medical costs and representing a serious worldwide health problem [3,4]. Permanent modification of the catheter surface with antimicrobial properties is the ideal solution, aiming preventive strategies that act at the frontline by avoiding bacteria adhesion, colonization and consequent biofilm formation
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