In Situ Fabrication of Ultrasmall Gold Nanoparticles/2D MOFs Hybrid as Nanozyme for Antibacterial Therapy

Abstract

As one of the common reactive oxygen species, H₂ O₂ has been widely used for combating pathogenic bacterial infections. However, the high dosage of H₂ O₂ can induce undesired damages to normal tissues and delay wound healing. In this regard, peroxidase-like nanomaterials serve as promising nanozymes, thanks to their positive promotion toward the antibacterial performance of H₂ O₂ , while avoiding the toxicity caused by the high concentrations of H₂ O₂ . In this work, ultrasmall Au nanoparticles (UsAuNPs) are grown on ultrathin 2D metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) via in situ reduction. The formed UsAuNPs/MOFs hybrid features both the advantages of UsAuNPs and ultrathin 2D MOFs, displaying a remarkable peroxidase-like activity toward H₂ O₂ decomposition into toxic hydroxyl radicals (·OH). Results show that the as-prepared UsAuNPs/MOFs nanozyme exhibits excellent antibacterial properties against both Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) bacteria with the assistance of a low dosage of H₂ O₂ . Animal experiments indicate that this hybrid material can effectively facilitate wound healing with good biocompatibility. This study reveals the promising potential of a hybrid nanozyme for antibacterial therapy and holds great promise for future clinical applications.