Bactericidal activity of black silicon

Black silicon is a synthetic nanomaterial that contains high aspect ratio nanoprotrusions on its surface, produced through a simple reactive-ion etching technique for use in photovoltaic applications. Surfaces with high aspect-ratio nanofeatures are also common in the natural world, for example, the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications 2013-11, Vol.4 (1), p.2838, Article 2838
Main Authors: Ivanova, Elena P., Hasan, Jafar, Webb, Hayden K., Gervinskas, Gediminas, Juodkazis, Saulius, Truong, Vi Khanh, Wu, Alex H.F., Lamb, Robert N., Baulin, Vladimir A., Watson, Gregory S., Watson, Jolanta A., Mainwaring, David E., Crawford, Russell J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
14/19
14/3
14/34
14/63
631/61/2049
639/301/357
Animals
Anti-Bacterial Agents - chemistry
Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology
Bacteria - drug effects
Biomechanical Phenomena
Humanities and Social Sciences
multidisciplinary
Nanostructures - chemistry
Odonata
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Silicon - chemistry
Silicon - pharmacology
Surface Properties
Wings, Animal - chemistry
Wings, Animal - microbiology
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Summary:Black silicon is a synthetic nanomaterial that contains high aspect ratio nanoprotrusions on its surface, produced through a simple reactive-ion etching technique for use in photovoltaic applications. Surfaces with high aspect-ratio nanofeatures are also common in the natural world, for example, the wings of the dragonfly Diplacodes bipunctata . Here we show that the nanoprotrusions on the surfaces of both black silicon and D. bipunctata wings form hierarchical structures through the formation of clusters of adjacent nanoprotrusions. These structures generate a mechanical bactericidal effect, independent of chemical composition. Both surfaces are highly bactericidal against all tested Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, and endospores, and exhibit estimated average killing rates of up to ~450,000 cells min −1  cm −2 . This represents the first reported physical bactericidal activity of black silicon or indeed for any hydrophilic surface. This biomimetic analogue represents an excellent prospect for the development of a new generation of mechano-responsive, antibacterial nanomaterials. The topographical features of insect wings result in some interesting surface properties, including hydrophobicity and antibacterial activity. Here the authors identify the surface of black silicon as a mimic of dragonfly wings and show that it too possesses antibacterial activity.
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/ncomms3838