Excellent Water Dispersibility Research Articles

Highly water dispersible collagen/polyaniline nanocomposites with strong adhesion for electrochromic films with enhanced cycling stability

Electrochromic materials have attracted extensive attention recently due to their versatile applications in smart windows, displays, antiglare rearview mirrors, and so on. Herein we report a new electrochromic composite prepared from collagen and polyaniline (PANI) through a self-assembly assisted co-precipitation method. The introduction of hydrophilic collagen macromolecules into PANI nanoparticles makes the collagen/PANI (C/PANI) nanocomposite obtain excellent dispersibility in water, which provides good environmental-friendly solution processability. Furthermore, the C/PANI nanocomposite exhibits excellent film-forming properties and adhesion to the ITO glass matrix. The resulting electrochromic film of the C/PANI nanocomposite displays significantly improved cycling stability compared with the pure PANI film after 500 coloring-bleaching cycles. On the other hand, the composite films also exhibit yellow, green and blue polychromatic properties at different applied voltages and high average transmittance at the bleaching state. The C/PANI electrochromic material illustrates scaling potential for the application of electrochromic devices.

Ultrasmall Coordination Polymer Nanodots Fe‐Quer Nanozymes for Preventing and Delaying the Development and Progression of Diabetic Retinopathy

AbstractDiabetic retinopathy (DR) is the most prevalent type of retinal vasculopathy and the most widespread cause of preventable blindness in adults. Excessive increases in reactive oxygen species (ROS) and vascular endothelial growth factor are major initiators and drivers of DR progression, respectively. However, current DR treatment options remain limited, particularly for early DR. Nanotechnology‐mediated antioxidant strategies are gaining increasing popularity to treat ocular diseases. Quercetin has excellent ROS scavenging efficiency but poor stability and low bioavailability in physiological environments. In this study, ultrasmall Fe‐Quer nanozymes (NZs) formed by coupling quercetin with low‐toxic iron ions are reported that can mimic the activities of three important antioxidant enzymes, superoxide dismutase, catalase, and peroxidase, thereby exhibiting excellent water dispersion and efficient ROS scavenging ability. In vitro and in vivo assays validate the effects of Fe‐Quer NZs against inflammation, oxidative stress damage, microvascular leakage, and angiogenesis, particularly their vascular protective effect in early DR. Transcriptomic analysis further reveals a potential multitarget‐specific therapeutic mechanism of Fe‐Quer NZs against DR. These observations open avenues for Fe‐Quer NZs, composed of molecules of a natural product and metal ions with artificial NZ activity, as microvascular protective agents for DR and other ROS‐related diseases.

Heparin Biofunctionalized Selenium Nanoparticles as Potential Antiangiogenic-Chemotherapeutic Agents for Targeted Doxorubicin Delivery.

Combining antiangiogenic and chemotherapeutic agents has shown promising clinical benefits in cancer cures when the therapeutic intervention takes into account the tissue and molecular targets. Moreover, the risk of induced drug resistance is minimized when multiple pathways are involved in the treatment regimen, yielding a better therapeutic outcome. Nanodrug delivery systems have proven to be a prudent approach to treating complex disease pathologies. As such, combining antiangiogenic and chemotherapeutic drugs within multimodal nanocarriers synergistically augments the clinical efficiency of the drugs. This study reports the combinatorial efficacy of heparin (Hep), selenium NPs (SeNPs), and doxorubicin (Dox) to inhibit tumor growth and progression. Both Se@Hep-NPs and Se@Hep-Dox-NPs with excellent water dispersity having a size and charge in the range of 250 ± 5 and 253 ± 5 nm and -53 ± 0.4 and -48.4 ± 6.4 mV, respectively, showed strong anticancer potential assessed through in vitro assays like cell viability, specificity, colony formation, and wound scratch in MCF7 cells. Strong synergistic interactions among SeNPs, Hep, and Dox in Se@Hep-Dox-NPs render it to be an antiangiogenic and proapoptotic cancer cell death inducers. In vivo imaging highlights the dual-mode attributes of Se@Hep-NPs with desirable passive tumor targeting and biomedical imaging ability when tagged with Cy7.5, while Se@Hep-Dox-NPs significantly reduce the tumor burden and prolong the longevity of subcutaneous EAC-bearing mice. Histopathology studies reveal no signs of toxicity in major organs. Collectively, these results qualify Se@Hep-Dox-NPs as a plausible clinical therapeutic candidate.

Preparation of biomass water‐soluble carbon quantum dots and their application in Cr (VI) ions detection

AbstractTo quickly and quantitatively detect the concentration of harmful Cr6+ in food and packaging, biomass nitrogen‐doped blue fluorescent carbon quantum dots (CQDs) were synthesized by a one‐step hydrothermal method using longan peel. The synthesized biomass CQDs are spherical, and the particle size is distributed between 1 and 6 nm. There are functional groups such as carboxyl, hydroxyl and amino groups on the surface of the CQDs, which promotes the excellent water dispersibility of the CQDs. CQDs have good fluorescence stability in salt solutions, different pH environments and long‐term storage. A fluorescence sensor for detecting Cr6+ was constructed, based on the specific quenching effect of Cr6+ on the fluorescence of CQDs. There is a good linear relationship between the fluorescence quenching rate of the fluorescence sensor and the Cr6+ concentration of the detected sample. The sensor has a linear range of 20–200 μM and a detection limit of 1.4 μM. In addition, the CQDs fluorescence sensor has an ideal recovery rate in the actual water sample spiked with Cr6+. This research innovatively combined longan and hydrothermal method to prepare a quantitative, fast and wide detection limit Cr6+ sensor.

Using Wool Keratin as a Structural Biomaterial and Natural Mediator to Fabricate Biocompatible and Robust Bioelectronic Platforms.

The design and fabrication of biopolymer-incorporated flexible electronics have attracted immense interest in healthcare systems, degradable implants, and electronic skin. However, the application of these soft bioelectronic devices is often hampered by their intrinsic drawbacks, such as poor stability, inferior scalability, and unsatisfactory durability. Herein, for the first time, using wool keratin (WK) as a structural biomaterial and natural mediator to fabricate soft bioelectronics is presented. Both theoretical and experimental studies reveal that the unique features of WK can endow carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with excellent water dispersibility, stability, and biocompatibility. Therefore, well-dispersed and electroconductive bio-inks can be prepared via a straightforward mixing process of WK and CNTs. The as-obtained WK/CNTs inks can be directly exploited to design versatile and high-performance bioelectronics, such as flexible circuits and electrocardiogram electrodes. More impressively, WK can also be a natural mediator to connect CNTs and polyacrylamide chains to fabricate a strain sensor with enhanced mechanical and electrical properties. With conformable and soft architectures, these WK-derived sensing units can be further assembled into an integrated glove for real-time gesture recognition and dexterous robot manipulations, suggesting the great potential of the WK/CNT composites for wearable artificial intelligence.

Multiscale photoacoustic tomography using reversibly switchable thermochromics.

Based on acoustic detection of optical absorption, photoacoustic tomography (PAT) allows functional and molecular imaging beyond the optical diffusion limit with high spatial resolution. However, multispectral functional and molecular PAT is often limited by decreased spectroscopic accuracy and reduced detection sensitivity in deep tissues, mainly due to wavelength-dependent optical attenuation and inaccurate acoustic inversion. Previous work has demonstrated that reversible color-shifting can drastically improve the detection sensitivity of PAT by suppressing nonswitching background signals. We aim to develop a new color switching-based PAT method using reversibly switchable thermochromics (ReST). We developed a family of ReST with excellent water dispersion, biostability, and temperature-controlled color changes by surface modification of commercial thermochromic microcapsules with the hydrophilic polysaccharide alginate. The optical absorbance of the ReST was switched on and off repeatedly by modulating the surrounding temperature, allowing differential photoacoustic detection that effectively suppressed the nonswitching background signal and substantially improved image contrast and detection sensitivity. We demonstrate reversible thermal-switching imaging of ReST in vitro and in vivo using three PAT modes at different length scales. ReST-enabled PAT is a promising technology for high-sensitivity deep tissue imaging of molecular activity in temperature-related biomedical applications, such as cancer thermotherapy.

Partially oxidized MoS2 nanosheets with high water-solubility to enhance the peroxidase-mimic activity for sensitive detection of glutathione

Surface oxidation engineering is an effective strategy to construct nanomaterials with enhanced biocatalytic activity. In this study, a facile one-pot oxidation strategy was proposed to synthesize partially oxidized molybdenum disulfide nanosheets (ox-MoS2 NSs), which exhibit good water solubility and can be used as an excellent peroxidase substitute. Under the oxidation process, Mo–S bonds are partially broke and S atoms are replaced by excess oxygen atoms, and the released abundant heat and gases efficiently expended the interlayer distance and weaken the van der Waals forces between adjacent layers. Porous ox-MoS2 NSs can be easily exfoliated by further sonication, and the nanosheets exhibits excellent water dispersibility and no obvious sediment appear even after store for months. Benefiting from the desirable affinity property with enzyme substrates, optimized electronic structure and prominent electron transfer efficiency, the ox-MoS2 NSs exhibit enhanced peroxidase-mimic activity. Furthermore, the ox-MoS2 NSs catalyzed 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) oxidation reaction could be inhibited by the redox reaction that take place between glutathione (GSH) as well as the direct interaction between GSH and ox-MoS2 NSs. Thus, a colorimetric sensing platform was constructed for GSH detection with good sensitivity and stability. This work provides a facile strategy for engineering structure of nanomaterials and improving enzyme-mimic performance.

Fluorescent Carbon Dots from Food Industry By-Products for Cell Imaging

Herein, following a circular economy approach, we present the synthesis of luminescent carbon dots via the thermal treatment of chestnut and peanut shells, which are abundant carbon-rich food industry by-products. As-synthesized carbon dots have excellent water dispersibility thanks to their negative surface groups, good luminescence, and photo-stability. The excitation-emission behaviour as well as the surface functionalization of these carbon dots can be tuned by changing the carbon source (chestnuts or peanuts) and the dispersing medium (water or ammonium hydroxide solution). Preliminary in vitro biological data proved that the samples are not cytotoxic to fibroblasts and can act as luminescent probes for cellular imaging. In addition, these carbon dots have a pH-dependent luminescence and may, therefore, serve as cellular pH sensors. This work paves the way towards the development of more sustainable carbon dot production for biomedical applications.

Precise Localization and Simultaneous Bacterial Eradication of Biofilms Based on Nanocontainers with Successive Responsive Property toward pH and ATP.

The bacterial colonization of surfaces and subsequent biofilm formation are a great threat in medical therapy and clinical diagnosis. The complex internal structure and composition sets an enormous obstacle for the localization and removal of biofilms. In this study, we proposed a novel biofilm-targeted nanocontainer with successive responsive property toward pH and ATP for precise localization and simultaneous bacterial eradication, with an acidic and adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-rich microenvironment within biofilms, formed due to the accumulation of fatty acids and ATP in the three-dimensional enclosed structure, integrated as two successive indicators to improve the precision of biofilm identification and removal. The biofilm-targeted nanocontainer was composed of a ATP-responsive zeolitic imidazolate framework-90 (ZIF-90) core loaded with Rho 6G and doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) encapsulated in the pH-responsive amorphous calcium carbonate/poly(acrylic acid) (ACC/PAA) shell. In the presence of biofilms, the ACC/PAA shell and ZIF-90 core were successively degraded by the accumulated H+ and ATP within biofilms, resulting in the release of fluorescence indicators and antimicrobial agents. On the other hand, to meet the application requirements of different biofilm scenarios, the pH response ability of the nanocontainers could be adjusted by changing the metallic ions (Ni2+, Zn2+, and Cu2+) doped into the structure of the ACC/PAA shell. Owing to excellent water dispersion of the pH/ATP double-responsive ZIF-90@Zn-ACC/PAA nanocontainer, precise localization and simultaneous bacterial eradication was successfully realized via a simple spray process. The successive pH/ATP two-step unlocking processes endowed the nanocontainers high precision for localization and simultaneous eradication of biofilms, which made the proposed nanocontainers high promising in food safety and medical treatment.

Green and scalable electrochemical routes for cost‐effective mass production of MXenes for supercapacitor electrodes

AbstractOne of the most unique properties of two‐dimensional carbides and nitrides of transition metals (MXenes) is their excellent water dispersibility and yet possessing superior electrical conductivity but their industrial‐scale application is limited by their costly chemical synthesis methods. In this work, the niche feature of MXenes was capitalized in the packed‐bed electrochemical reactor to produce MXenes at an unprecedented reaction rate and yield with minimal chemical waste. A simple NH4F solution was employed as the green electrolyte, which could be used repeatedly without any loss in its efficacy. Surprisingly, both fluoride and ammonium were found to play critical roles in the electrochemical etching, functionalization, and expansion of the layered parent materials (MAXs) through which the liberation of ammonia gas was observed. The electrochemically produced MXenes with excellent conductivity, applied as supercapacitor electrodes, could deliver an ultrahigh volumetric capacity (1408 F cm−3) and a volumetric energy density (75.8 Wh L−1). This revolutionary green, energy‐efficient, and scalable electrochemical route will not only pave the way for industrial‐scale production of MXenes but also open up a myriad of versatile electrochemical modifications for improved functional MXenes.

Electrochemical Synthesis of Carbon Quantum Dots.

Carbon quantum dots (CDs) are "small" carbon nanostructures with excellent photoluminescence properties, together with low-toxicity, high biocompatibility, excellent dispersibility in water as well as organic solvents. Due to their characteristics, CDs have been studied for a plethora of applications as biosensors, luminescent probes for photodynamic and photothermal therapy, fluorescent inks and many more. Moreover, the possibility to obtain carbon dots from biomasses and/or organic waste has strongly promoted the interest in this class of carbon-based nanoparticles, having a promising impact in the view of circular economy and sustainable processes. Within this context, electrochemistry proved to be a green, practical, and efficient method for the synthesis of high-quality CDs, with the possibility to fine-tune their characteristics by changing operational parameters. This review outlines the principal and most recent advances in the electrochemical synthesis of CDs, focusing on the electrochemical set-up optimization.

Recent Research Progress of 19 F Magnetic Resonance Imaging Probes: Principle, Design, and Their Application.

Visualization of biomolecules, cells, and tissues, as well as metabolic processes in vivo is significant for studying the associated biological activities. Fluorine magnetic resonance imaging (19 F MRI) holds potential among various imaging technologies thanks to its negligible background signal and deep tissue penetration in vivo. To achieve detection on the targets with high resolution and accuracy, requirements of high-performance 19 F MRI probes are demanding. An ideal 19 F MRI probe is thought to have, first, fluorine tags with magnetically equivalent 19 F nuclei, second, high fluorine content, third, adequate fluorine nuclei mobility, as well as excellent water solubility or dispersity, but not limited to. This review summarizes the research progresses of 19 F MRI probes and mainly discusses the impacts of structures on in vitro and in vivo imaging performances. Additionally, the applications of 19 F MRI probes in ions sensing, molecular structures analysis, cells tracking, and in vivo diagnosis of disease lesions are also covered in this article. From authors' perspectives, this review is able to provide inspirations for relevant researchers on designing and synthesizing advanced 19 F MRI probes.

Visual evaluation of acetylcholinesterase inhibition by an easy-to-operate assay based on N-doped carbon nanozyme with high stability and oxidase-like activity.

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is the key enzyme associated with neurotransmission, and thus many drugs have been explored for their inhibitory effect on AChE, such as donepezil for Alzheimer's disease and organophosphorus pesticides (OPs). Compared with clinical trials, in vitro screening bioassays for AChE inhibitors are preferable in terms of operability and cost. Herein, we developed an easy-to-operate nanozyme-based colorimetric assay for the evaluation of AChE inhibitory strength with excellent anti-interference ability and low dependence on professional equipment. The metal-free carbon nanozyme NC900 played an important role in the signal output due to its features of efficient oxidase-like activity, excellent water dispersibility, high stability and low color interference. Employing various AChE-targeted or non-targeted pesticides as examples, the as-proposed assay exhibited excellent distinguishing ability for different chemicals. The higher absorption intensity at 652 nm represents a stronger inhibitory effect, as well as blue color. In addition, this method was used to study the influence of pH on the degradation of prodrugs, and the efficiency of mixed pesticides. This work provides a simple and reliable assay to screen AChE inhibitors, which is promising for the preliminary evaluation of a large number of potential candidates.

Ultra-small NIR J-aggregates of BODIPY for potent phototheranostics.

Cancer phototheranostics that combines diagnosis with phototherapy has emerged as a new mode of precise treatment. Nevertheless, taking highly effective phototheranostics into consideration, it is still a tremendous challenge to design multifunctional photothermal agents (PTAs) that combine the features of intensive near-infrared (NIR) absorption/emission, high photothermal conversion efficiency (PCE) and preferable tumor accumulation. Herein, seeking a convenient method to facilitate absorption red-shift, promote the accumulation of drugs in tumors and heighten the PCE appears to be particularly important for cancer theranostics. In this work, heavy-atom-free boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) was assembled with F127 to fabricate ultra-small J-aggregated nanoparticles (named as BNPs). Compared to free BODIPY, BNPs exhibited 63 nm redshifted absorption, deep-tissue fluorescence imaging, enhanced cellular uptake, preferable tumor accumulation, elevated PCE, excellent photothermal stability and water dispersibility. In vivo experiments demonstrated that BNPs could behave as high-performance tumor fluorescent imaging probes and antitumor PTAs to conduct NIR imaging-guided PTT. This work offers a novel J-aggregated framework on developing robust diagnostic and therapeutic agents.

Enhanced adsorption of methylene blue by mixed-phase bismuth ferrite prepared by non-aqueous sol-gel route

We report here a non-aqueous sol-gel synthesis of bismuth ferrite (BFO) particles in THF, DMF, and DMSO solvents, their subsequent utilization in adsorption of methylene blue, and a comparison of their adsorption efficiencies. BFO is attractive for adsorption because of its excellent dispersion in water. XRD data shows that all the solvents yield a mixture of a primary rhombohedral and a secondary orthorhombic phases with varying fractions. The DMSO yields the most impure samples having the highest fraction of secondary phase. However, the adsorption efficiencies of the samples order as DMF < THF < DMSO, with DMF showing 26.28 %, THF 51.63 %, and DMSO 96.54 %. A higher refractive index and donicity of DMSO leads to better solvation of the sol and incorporation of sulfur in the metal-oxide network during the sol-gel reaction. DMSO aids in columnar growth of orthorhombic phase, which, due to sulfur incorporation, forms a more open and less crystalline phase, which are the factors responsible for DMSO samples showing enhanced adsorption. Analysis of adsorption kinetics and isotherm on the DMSO samples confirms diffusive regimes pertaining to film-diffusion and intra-particle diffusion with the diffusive kinetics becoming faster at higher dye concentration. Fitting to Langmuir isotherm yields maximum monolayer coverage of 7.14 mg of dye per g of the adsorbent. The DMSO samples also show excellent adsorption at high pH conditions.

Silver Sulfide Nanocrystals as a Biocompatible and Full-Spectrum Photocatalyst for Efficient Light-Driven Polymerization under Aqueous and Ambient Conditions

Owing to current global environmental concerns, polymers must be prepared under eco-friendly reaction conditions based on sustainable chemistry. In this context, highly efficient photoinduced energy/electron transfer reversible addition–fragmentation chain-transfer (PET-RAFT) polymerization under ambient/aqueous conditions without additives and/or with the aid of sunlight is the optimal approach for producing polymers with well-defined structures. This can be accomplished with a photocatalyst (PC) that utilizes the full spectrum of sunlight for maximum efficiency and has excellent water solubility or dispersibility, oxygen tolerance, and biocompatibility. However, a PC with all of these features has not yet been developed. In this study, we confirmed that this could be achieved using Ag2S nanocrystals (NCs) as photocatalysts. The sufficient reducing power of Ag2S NCs enabled the successful aqueous PET-RAFT polymerization of numerous acrylic monomers under ambient natural sunlight illumination without any additives. Under illumination, the small band gap of Ag2S NCs suppressed the generation of singlet oxygen, resulting in low cytotoxicity toward three different cell lines. Finally, we demonstrated that PET-RAFT polymerization with Ag2S NCs can be accomplished in biologically relevant media under natural sunlight illumination, indicating adequate biocompatibility and efficacy of the system.

Stable carbon encapsulated titanium carbide MXene aqueous ink for fabricating high-performance supercapacitors

• A simple method to synthesize phenolic carbon encapsulated Ti 3 C 2 T x (Ti 3 C 2 T x @C) inks • Ti 3 C 2 T x @C exhibited superior oxidation resistance even after 100 days of aging • Ti 3 C 2 T x @C exhibited a specific capacitance of 736 F g –1 in a three-electrode system • A flexible interdigitated micro supercapacitor (MSC) was printed using Ti 3 C 2 T x @C inks • Ti 3 C 2 T x @C MSC device displayed high cycling stability (83% after 10,000 cycles) Ti-based MXenes have shown great promise in electrochemical applications, including (photo)electrocatalysis and energy storage. However, their practical application has been hindered by their rapid oxidation in the presence of water and O 2 . In this work, we propose a method to solve the problem through a one-step hydrothermal treatment of MXene (Ti 3 C 2 T x , where T x is –OH or –F) in the presence of agarose. The hydrothermal treatment results in the in situ capping of the phenolic carbon layer on the Ti 3 C 2 T x to form Ti 3 C 2 T x @C, which improves its chemical stability by protecting the Ti atoms from oxidation with water and O 2 , and thus enhances its electrochemical performance by avoiding re-stacking of the Ti 3 C 2 T x @C sheets. The as-prepared Ti 3 C 2 T x @C exhibits high oxidation resistance with >95% performance when stored in an aqueous medium for at least 100 days. Ti 3 C 2 T x @C provides a specific capacitance of 736 F g –1 in 1 M H 2 SO 4 electrolyte over a voltage window of 0.5 V. Having excellent water dispersibility and high electrochemical activity, Ti 3 C 2 T x @C is ideal for the preparation of stable MXene inks for the fabrication of high-performance interdigitated electrodes through inkjet printing. The flexible micro-supercapacitor constructed from Ti 3 C 2 T x @C ink exhibits excellent cyclic stability up to 10,000 charge-discharge cycles without a significant decrease in specific capacitance.

Facile synthesis of curcumin-containing poly(amidoamine) dendrimers as pH-responsive delivery system for osteoporosis treatment

Osteoporosis is an age-related metabolic disease of bone, resulting in bone pain and even bone fragility and brittle fracture. Inhibiting overactive osteoclasts while promoting osteoblast activity is an ideal way to treat osteoporosis. Previous studies have demonstrated that natural compounds, such as curcumin (Cur) have dual roles both in promoting bone formation and inhibiting bone resorption, making them promising candidates for osteoporosis treatment. However, their poor water solubility, high dosage of curative effect and significant toxicity to other organs have largely limited their clinical translations. In this study, a novel method was reported to conjugate Cur and poly(amidoamine) dendrimers (PAD) using hexachlorocyclotriphosphazene (HCCP) as the linkage through a one-pot reaction, forming stable and uniform Cur loaded nanospheres (HCCP-Cur-PAD, HCP NPs). Owing to the hydrophilicity of PAD and hydrophobicity of Cur, HCP NPs can self-assemble into nanoparticles with particle size of 138.8 ± 78.7 nm and display excellent water dispersity. The loading capacity of Cur can reach 27.2% and it can be released from HCP NPs with pH-responsiveness. In vitro experimental results demonstrated that the HCP NPs entered lysosomes by endocytosis and proved dual anti-osteoporosis effects of inhibiting osteoclasts and promoting osteoblasts.

Versatile MXene integrated assembly for piezoresistive micro‐force sensing

AbstractMXenes have received tremendous attention for flexible electronics owing to their excellent conductivity, water dispersibility, and mechanical flexibility. However, the sediment from the MXene production process is usually discarded as trash, resulting in low utilization. Here, we present a flexible pressure sensor that enables micro‐force sensing and efficient utilization of MXene by confining MXene trash among structured MXene electrodes. Benefiting from the synergistic effect of both the confined micro‐conical structure and easily changeable space of MXene trash, the as‐designed device can detect extremely subtle pressure of 2.9 Pa, deliver a high sensitivity over 4.08 kPa−1, and exhibit a remarkably fast response time (7 ms). These properties make it suitable for monitoring weak force signals from human wrist pulse and even for detecting dynamic responses associated with acoustic waves. This work provides a reference for the versatile and efficient application of MXene in the same device, showing great potential for sustainable production of next‐generation wearable smart electronics.

Graphene oxide coated aluminium as an efficient antibacterial surface

Antimicrobial coatings on metallic surfaces are rapidly emerging to combat bacterial pathogens. The excess use of conventional antibiotics increases the number of resistant strains at an alarming rate, which in turn leads to detrimental implications in the healthcare sector. Hence, it is of great importance in developing a new class of material with inherent bactericidal activity and good biocompatibility. In the present study, we have modified the aluminium surfaces by a coating of graphene oxide (GO) due to its excellent physicochemical properties, water dispersity and low cytotoxicity. Coatings were developed through facile and enviornment-friendly transfer method. The antimicrobial properties of GO coated aluminium are investigated against Gram-negative strain E. coli through agar plate counting and ‘Live/Dead’ fluorescence staining. Further, to shed light into the mechanism of antibacterial activity of GO at the molecular level, we have performed X-ray reflectivity (XRR) study considering a phospholipid multilayer as a model system to mimic bacteria cell membrane. Results show a significant bactericidal activity of the GO coatings compared to uncoated aluminium with lower concentration showing slightly better antibacterial property due to higher roughness. The obtained results may pave the way for engineering graphene-based antimicrobial coatings on a material surface using an easy, environment-friendly, cost-effective and straight forward processing route. • Antibacterial GO coating on aluminium surfaces were developed. • A facile, cost-effective and eco-friendly method was used for coating. • Sharp edges of GO sheets at lower concentration shows maximum bactericidal effect. • Rupture of cell membrane is considered to be dominant in antibacterial activity. • Molecular mechanism is confirmed by X-ray scattering studies.