RUI: Collaborative Research: Rational Design and Mechanistic Understanding of Carbon-Based Hybrid Nanostructures for Potent Microbicidal Function

RUI：合作研究：具有有效杀菌功能的碳基杂化纳米结构的合理设计和机理理解

• 批准号: 2102056
• 负责人: Liju Yang
• 金额: $ 30.78万
• 依托单位: North Carolina Central University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-09-01 至 2025-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2102056&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RUI; Collaborative; Research; Rational; Design

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY:Infections by bacterial pathogens, especially those that are resistant to antibiotics, represent a major threat to the public health in this country, with millions of people suffering from the infections and a significant number of deaths each year. Thus, there are urgent demands for alternative approaches to prevent the spread of such infections. Nanomaterials-based approaches hold promise to serve as antibacterial agents against multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria. This collaborative project will develop and establish the newly discovered photoactive nanomaterials, specifically carbon dots (CDots) and derived “hybrid dots” (with other components), as a uniquely potent biomaterials platform for killing MDR bacteria. CDots are of a core-shell structure, each with a nanoscale carbon particle as the core and organic molecules as the coating on its surface (shell). When exposed to human-friendly visible/natural or ambient light, CDots generate radical-like species that are highly lethal to bacterial pathogens, making them excellent bio-nanomaterials for antibacterial applications. This project will use some new strategies to design CDots and hybrid dots to improve and optimize the antibacterial performance, with expected broad positive impacts to the control of MDR pathogens, and also to the training of students in the important biomaterials field.TECHNICAL SUMMARY:This collaborative project is to further develop and establish carbon dots (CDots) and derived hybrid nanostructures as a unique biomaterials platform for visible/natural or ambient light-activated potent antibacterial function. CDots may be considered as a special kind of “core-shell” hybrid nanostructures, each with a small carbon nanoparticle core and a thin shell of attached organic materials for the particle surface passivation. They are strongly absorptive in the visible spectrum, and their photoexcited state properties and processes resemble those typically found in semiconductor quantum dots, but with unique advantages. The versatility and flexibility of modifying the dot surface with organic moieties enable the manipulation of CDots to enhance their optical properties and their interactions with the targeted bacterial cells. The project team will leverage these distinctive characteristics to design and prepare CDots and derived hybrid nanostructures for the desired properties based on the rationales including 1) the more effective photon harvesting across the entire visible spectrum, 2) highly efficient photoexcited state processes responsible for the antimicrobial activities, and 3) more targeted and stronger interactions with the bacterial cells, thus to establish the CDots/hybrid dots as effective and efficient broad spectrum agents for killing multidrug-resistant pathogens. The efforts will be coupled with investigations for mechanistic understanding of these bio-nanomaterials. The project will also have broader impacts in terms of societal benefits and technology development, institutional research enhancement, education and engagement of undergraduate students in research, and outreach activities.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

非技术摘要：细菌病原体感染，尤其是那些对抗生素具有抗药性的细菌病原体感染，对这个国家的公共卫生构成了重大威胁，每年有数百万人遭受感染并导致大量死亡。迫切需要采用替代方法来防止此类感染的传播。该合作项目将开发和建立新发现的光活性细菌。纳米材料，特别是碳点（CDots）和衍生的“混合点”（与其他成分），作为杀死MDR细菌的独特有效的生物材料平台，CDots具有核壳结构，每个碳点都以纳米级碳颗粒为核心，当暴露于人类友好的可见光/自然光或环境光时，CDots会产生对细菌病原体高度致命的自由基类物质，使其成为优异的生物纳米材料。该项目将使用一些新策略来设计CDots和混合点，以提高和优化抗菌性能，预计将对MDR病原体的控制以及重要生物材料领域的学生培训产生广泛的积极影响。技术摘要：该合作项目旨在进一步开发和建立碳点（CDots）和衍生的混合纳米结构作为独特的生物材料平台，用于可见光/自然或环境光激活的强效CDots可以被认为是一种特殊的“核强壳”混合纳米结构，每个结构都有一个小的碳纳米颗粒核和一个附着有机材料的薄壳，用于颗粒表面钝化，它们在可见光谱中具有吸收性。它们的光激发态特性和过程类似于半导体量子点中常见的特性和过程，但具有独特的优势，用有机部分修饰点表面的多功能性和灵活性使得对碳点的操控得以增强。项目团队将利用这些独特的特性来设计和制备 CDot 和衍生的混合纳米结构，以实现所需的特性，其基本原理包括：1）在整个可见光谱范围内更有效地收集光子。 ，2）负责抗菌活性的高度光激发状态过程，以及3）与细菌细胞更具针对性和更强的相互作用，从而将CDots/混合点确立为有效且高效的广谱杀灭剂这些努力将与这些生物纳米材料的机理研究相结合，还将在社会效益和技术发展、机构研究加强、教育和本科生参与研究方面产生更广泛的影响。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Mechanistic Exploration of Visible Light-Activated Carbon/TiO2 Hybrid Dots Damaging Bacterial Cells

可见光活性炭/TiO2杂化点损伤细菌细胞的机理探索

• DOI: 10.3390/app12199633
• 发表时间: 2022-10
• 期刊: Applied Sciences
• 作者: Adcock, Audrey F.;Liang, Weixiong;Okonjo, Peter A.;Dong, Xiuli;Sheriff, Kirkland;Wang, Ping;Ferguson, Isaiah S.;Hwu, Shiou;Sun, Ya;Yang, Liju
• 通讯作者: Yang, Liju

Stable Carbon Dots from Microwave-Heated Carbon Nanoparticles Generating Organic Radicals for In Situ Additions

微波加热碳纳米颗粒产生的稳定碳点产生有机自由基用于原位添加

• DOI: 10.3390/c9010005
• 发表时间: 2023-03
• 期刊: C
• 作者: Liang, Weixiong;Singh, Buta;Cao, Elton Y.;Bunker, Christopher E.;Cannon, William;Petta, Lauren;Wang, Ping;Yang, Liju;Cao, Li;Scorzari, Annalise;et al
• 通讯作者: et al

Photoactivated carbon dots inducing bacterial functional and molecular alterations

光活化碳点诱导细菌功能和分子改变

• DOI: 10.1039/d2ma00403h
• 发表时间: 2022-08
• 期刊: Materials Advances
• 影响因子: 5
• 作者: Dong, Xiuli;Wang, Ping;Rodriguez, Cristian E.;Tang, Yongan;Kathariou, Sophia;Sun, Ya;Yang, Liju
• 通讯作者: Yang, Liju

Carbon Dots: Classically Defined versus Organic Hybrids on Shared Properties, Divergences, and Myths

碳点：经典定义与有机混合体的共同特性、分歧和神话

• DOI: 10.1002/smll.202206680
• 发表时间: 2023-03
• 期刊: Small
• 影响因子: 13.3
• 作者: Liang, Weixiong;Sonkar, Sumit Kumar;Saini, Deepika;Sheriff, Kirkland;Singh, Buta;Yang, Liju;Wang, Ping;Sun, Ya‐Ping
• 通讯作者: Sun, Ya‐Ping

Carbon “quantum” dots for bioapplications

用于生物应用的碳-量子-点

• DOI: 10.1177/15353702211057513
• 发表时间: 2022-02
• 期刊: Experimental Biology and Medicine
• 影响因子: 3.2
• 作者: Yuan, Dekai;Wang, Ping;Yang, Liju;Quimby, Jesse L;Sun, Ya
• 通讯作者: Sun, Ya